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LA QUINTA, Calif. – Following Sunday’s opening round of The Big West Championship at La Quinta Country Club, the UC San Diego men’s golf team sits in a tie for third while two players are in the top-10 on the leaderboard.
The Tritons shot three-over par on the par 72, 7060-yard course in the Coachella Valley.
Freshman Ethan Lien is tied for fifth and senior Nathan Tseng is tied for eighth in the 50-player field. Lien is one-under after shooting 71 while Tseng shot an even par 72. Senior Davis McDowell is tied for 14th at one-over. Senior Leo Cheng (+3) is tied for 29th and classmate Francis Catalano is tied for 36th.
Reigning Big West champion Long Beach State leads the 10-team field at 12-under par, the lone squad below par. Cal Poly is second at two-over with UC San Diego and UC Davis both in third.
Long Beach State is ranked 28th in the latest national poll.
The individual leader is Steen Zeman from Long Beach State, who shot five-under today. Three players are tied for second place at three-under including Jack Cantlay and Alejandro De Castro from Long Beach State as well as Zhenxian Zhang from UC Davis.
UC San Diego will be paired with players from Long Beach State as well as Cal Poly in Monday’s second round, slated for a 10 a.m. start. The third and final round is set for Tuesday at 8 a.m.
It was sunny with temperatures in the low to mid-90s Sunday. Players had to deal with a strong wind for a good portion of the round, with gusts up to 30 miles per hour. For Monday, temps are expected to drop to a high of 77. The final 18 round is set for Tuesday with an 8 a.m. start.
The team winner of The Big West Championship earns an automatic berth in the upcoming NCAA Division I Championship. The individual medalist earns a place in the regional field if not a member of the winning team, nor on a team chosen for an at-large selection.
All action from La Quinta can be followed with live scoring.
TRITON RESULTS
tie-5. Ethan Lien, -1 (71)
tie-8. Nathan Tseng, even (72)
tie-14. Davis McDowell, +1 (73)
tie-29. Leo Cheng, +3 (75)
tie-36. Francis Catalano, +4 (76)
TEAM RESULTS
1. Long Beach State, -12
2. Cal Poly, +2
tie-3. UC San Diego, +3
tie-3. UC Davis, +3
tie-5. Hawai’i, +5
tie-5. UC Irvine, +5
7. UC Santa Barbara, +7
8. Cal State Fullerton, +10
9. CSUN, +22
10. UC Riverside, +23
FULL RESULTS
• https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/240005/scoring/team
THE COURSE
• La Quinta Country Club
• 77-750 Avenue 50, La Quinta, CA 92253
• Par: 72
• Yardage: 7060
• Rating: 74.3
• Slope: 136
• Scorecard
• Course Tour
PGA Tour professionals have consistently praised The La Quinta Country Club for its impeccable course conditions, particularly the greens which are often described as “some of the finest on the PGA Tour”. The course is recognized as having been maintained in a manner to achieve the primary goal of course architect Lawrence M. Hughes, which was to provide the “purest and best quality of play” for all golfers.
About UC San Diego Athletics
After two decades as one of the most successful programs in NCAA Division II, the UC San Diego intercollegiate athletics program began a new era in 2020 as a member of the Big West Conference in NCAA Division I. The 23-sport Tritons earned 30 team and nearly 150 individual national championships during its time in Divisions III and II and helped guide 1,400 scholar-athletes to All-America honors. A total of 84 Tritons have earned Academic All-America honors, while 38 have earned prestigious NCAA Post Graduate Scholarships. UC San Diego scholar-athletes exemplify the academic ideals of one of the world’s preeminent institutions, graduating at an average rate of 91 percent, one of the highest rates among institutions at all divisions.