The UC Santa Barbara Golf team was back on the green the last two days as they competed at the Alister Mackenzie Invitational hosted by Cal.
By the end of three rounds, the Gauchos wrapped up the tournament tied for 13th with Nick Waldock, Ryan Gay, Zekun Fang, Dylan Ma and Matt Monheim competing for the Blue and Gold.
“We shot ourselves in the foot to start the tournament,” said Head Coach Chris Massoletti. “The first round conditions were about as easy as it gets and we played so poorly that it made it nearly impossible to have a good tournament.
“We did a good job trying to bounce back with some low rounds from Zekun and Dylan. Ryan was solid all three rounds, but our hole was a little too deep after round one. We need to learn how to come out of the gates ready to go.”
This was a really tough field of 16 teams that competed on a par 71 course at the Meadow Club. The best performance for the Gauchos came from Gay, who stayed under par for all three rounds.
He started the tournament shooting a 69 before following that up with a 68 in the second round. He continued with this great performance by recording a 69 in the third round as well, resulting in him finishing 33rd out of 84 golfers.
The lowest rounds of the entire tournament came from Fang and Ma. The second round is where Fang shined as he shot a 64 while Ma came up big for the Gauchos in the third round with a score of 66.
Along with the team performance, Jack Watters competed as an individual. He had his best performance in the second round of the tournament when he shot a 67 to go four under par.
San Jose State was named as the tournament champions as they went -56 as a team across all three rounds. They also had the top individual in Zubair Firdaus, who ended the tournament at -23.
UC Santa Barbara will take the next two weeks to prepare as they get ready for the Leadership and Golf Collegiate hosted by Saint Mary’s College for their final tournament of the fall season.
That tournament will take place in Seaside, California from Oct. 21 through Oct. 23.