With four fall tournaments under its belt, California men’s golf is ready to return to action next week when the Golden Bears open their 2022 campaign at the Arizona Intercollegiate January 24-25. The tournament in Arizona will be the first of six regular season events for the Bears ahead of the Pac-12 Championship in Sammamish, Washington in April.
“We’re all excited to get our spring season underway next week in Tucson,” Alex and Marie Shipman Director of Men’s Golf Walter Chun said. “We have not played our best yet, but we have really worked diligently on the areas we need to improve upon. It’s time to start putting the practice into play, and with a full spring season ahead of us, I am confident in this team and what we can accomplish.”
Tilly will be leading the way as the men’s golf’s most tenured player having competed in 27 tournaments at Cal. In 87 rounds he has recorded a 73.09 stroke average. The San Carlos, Calif. native returned from an injury to compete in a pair of tournaments last semester; his best finish came at the Hamptons Intercollegiate where he tied for 34th (78, 78, 70 – 226, +10). Tilly’s best season came in 2019-20 where he placed in the top 10 three times including twice in the top five. He was just heating up before the COVID-19 pandemic cut the season short as he was averaging 71.62 strokes per round (just four strokes over par). Tilly is one of four upperclassmen on the roster which also includes seniors Connor Golembeski, Kyle Maspat and James Song.
A pair of younger Bears topped Cal’s scoresheet in the fall as sophomores Costas Panay and Sampson Zheng each performed well in three tournaments. Panay produced the Bears’ lowest stroke average of the fall (72.55) and his best finish came at the Maui Jim Intercollegiate (T24). Meanwhile, Zheng cracked the top 20 at the Isleworth Collegiate, tying for 18th with 218 (+2) strokes overall. He currently has a 72.6 stroke average this season.
Cal is also hoping to see strong play from sophomore Aaron Du this spring. The native of Beijing, China and graduate of Lake Mary Preparatory School finished seventh at the 2021 Pac-12 Championship; he shot a 279 (-9) in the tournament which included a score of 66 (-6) in the third round. Du returned from competition in China late last fall and rejoined the Bears for their final tournament (The Isleworth Collegiate). He finished 67th (232, +16) at the event.
Cal will head to Tucson this weekend for the Arizona Intercollegiate. The Bears will play 36 holes at the Tucson Country Club on Monday, January 24 and 18 on January 25. Cal’s progress can be followed live on golfstat here. Read the release on the Bears’ full spring schedule here.