California men’s golf wrapped up its first tournament of 2021 on Wednesday, finishing ninth at the Southwestern Invitational.
“While we didn’t play to our abilities, having the opportunity to compete was what we’ve been waiting and hoping for,” Alex and Marie Shipman Director of Men’s Golf Walter Chun said. “We’ve had 10 months away from college golf, so being back felt good. As for us, the tournament exposed many weaknesses in our game, and we’ll work on those shortcomings the next few weeks in order to play better the next time we tee it up.”
Freshman Aaron Du led Cal in his first collegiate tournament, finishing tied for 22nd with a total of 225 (+9) strokes. Three behind Du and also competing in his first tournament at Cal, freshman Sampson Zheng tied for 34th after shooting a 77 (+5) in the final round. Zheng finished with 228 (+12) strokes overall. Entering the back nine seven strokes over par, he was able to recover with seven pars and two birdies. Furthermore, his average score of 3.00 on par 3s was tied for the lowest among all 66 competitors. Senior Finigan Tilly’s score of 229 (+13) placed him in a tie for 38th while sophomore Sebastian Iqbal rounded out the Bears’ scorers, tied for 60th with an overall score of 238 (+22).
Cal will return to action Feb. 15-17 when they head to Palm Springs for The Prestige hosted by Stanford and UC Davis.
To follow Cal men’s golf this season, visit calbears.com, or follow the team on Twitter, and Instagram.