Sophomores Brandon Bauman and Zach Smith finished 1-2, leading UC Santa Barbara to a 14-shot victory at the UC Riverside Winter Intercollegiate at the Oak Valley Golf Club in Beaumont.
Bauman shot an even-par 216 to edge his teammate for individual medalist honors. He was the only player in the field to finish at par. Smith led the tournament after the first round but Bauman used a 4-under par second round to pull in front and that’s how it remained as he topped Smith who carded a 2-over par 218. Jared Brown of Eastern Kentucky and Freddy Thomas of DePaul tied for third-place at 7-over par.
“Brandon and Zach played very well,” said head coach Steve Lass. “Really though, we got good play form all five guys under extremely difficult conditions. This was a good test for us and a nice way to start the second half of our season.”
Freshman Brett Patton, a Dos Pueblos and SBCC alum, shot a 16-over par 232 to tie for 19th, while Nick Swanson and Willy Moffly each finished 17-over par and tied for 23rd.
As a team, the Gauchos were second after one round but recorded a 292 in the second round to open up an eight shot lead over DePaul. In the third and final round UCSB was six shots better than the Blue Demons and wound up pulling away for a 14-shot victory, 896-910. Eastern Kentucky was third, 18 shots back, and Cal Poly was fourth, 20 shots behind.