UC Irvine fired a three-round total of 870 to end its season with an 11th-place finish at the NCAA West Regional that concluded Saturday at Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City, Calif. The UC Davis Aggies carded a three-round score of 290 to place 13th.
Arizona State finished first in the 13-team field with a 54-hole score of 36-under par 828. Oregon was second at 837, Texas A&M third at 840, San Diego fourth at 849 and USC fifth at 853 as those are the teams that advance to the NCAA Championship at The Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, May 25-30.
UCI junior John Chin led the Anteaters with an 18th-place finish of three-under 213 after an even-par 72 in the final round. Sophomore Max Greil also shot 72 Saturday and placed 27th at 215. Senior Sean Shahi carded a one-under-par 71 in the last round and finished 39th at 217. Freshman Roberto Francioni (81) placed 72nd at 227 and sophomore Bryan Harris (79) was 74th at 233. This was the eighth trip in the past nine years to a regional for Coach Paul Smolinski's UCI program.
Sophomore Austin Graham and junior Brent Booth each shot par-72 during the final round to lead the UC Davis men's golf team. The Aggies, who earned a berth in the Div. I national championships in just their second year at the Div. I level, shot a 2-over 290 on Saturday at the 6,849-yard Lake Merced Golf Club, ending the 54-hole tournament at 9-over 873.
Freshman Tyler Raber fired a 73 in the last round, tying for 43rd place at two-over-par 218 and leading the Aggies on the final leaderboard. Nate Pistacchio, who along with fellow senior Ramie Sprinkling played their last rounds after spectacular careers, also had a 73 and tied for 48th at 3-over. Graham tied for 51st at four-over, followed by Sprinkling's final-round 76 which tied for 57th and Booth, who was 65th at seven-over.
Playing as an individual, Cal Poly junior Geoff Gonzalez carded a final-round 74 and finished tied for 57th place. Gonzalez, who carded a one-under-par 71 Thursday and a 76 Friday, finished with a five-over-par 221 total. Gonzalez was competing in an NCAA Regional for the second time in his Mustang career.
Also playing as an individual at the NCAA Regionals was Cal State Northridge's Nick Delio, who concluded the three-day event with a two-over-par 218. After blasting a four-under 68 in the second round, he followed that up with a two-over-par total of 74 in the final round.