Big West Golf Closes Season at NCAA Championship

Files associated with this release:
11Golf-Final.pdf

6/1/2012

The Big West had a large presence in postseason play with six teams represented in Regional competition and a sole representative at the NCAA Championships.

Long Beach State’s Philip Chian Competes at NCAA Championship: Chian was the sole representative Tuesday, May 29 through May 31 in Pacific Palisades, Calif., for the NCAA Championship at Riviera Country Club. 

Chian started the first round 3-over-par 74 with seven consecutive pars until making his first of two birdies on the 17th hole.  He started the second round tied for 62nd, but fell in the standings to tie for 92nd after a 36-hole score of 9-over 151.  Chian completed the three-day tournament at 18-over 231, tying for 130th place.

Big West Men’s Golf Represented Big At Men’s NCAA Regionals: The Aggies returned to postseason play for the second consecutive season, while Long Beach State got an at-large berth to the regionals, as well as three Big West individuals who represented the conference.  The three-round regional took place May 17-19.

UC Davis competed at the Stanford Regional with Big West Championship individual winner, Pacific’s Alex Edfort and UC Irvine’s Allan Jun.  Long Beach State would compete at the Athens Regional as the at-large No. 7 seed, while Cal State Northridge’s Chris Russo played at the Greensboro Regional.

Led by Matt Hansen, who finished even-par the last day, and Johnny Baxter, who tied for 27th, the UC Davis men’s golf team went on to finish in 12th place at the NCAA Stanford Regional.  Pacific’s Edfort finished Regional play in a tie for 27th with a one-over 211,while Jun finished 44th overall to finish with a 54-hole total of 215. Northridge’s Russo placed 44th-place finish at the NCAA Greensboro Regional.

Long Beach State was led by Philip Chian who finished the last round of competition an even par-71 to tie for fourth place, advancing to the NCAA Championship.  The 49ers recorded a final round score of 294 to finish with a 54-hole total at 20-over 872 to place eighth in the 13-team field.

Aggie Women Compete at NCAA West Regional:  UC Davis, ranked 23rd, traveled to the NCAA Women’s Golf West Regional at Colorado National Golf Club and narrowly missed an individual berth to the NCAA Finals, after losing in a playoff for the spot.  The Aggies entered the final day of the three-day competition tied for 11th place and just three shots back from eighth after opening the regional tied for 18th. They finished seven shots from the cut-off, carding a three-day total of 33-over 897.

Davis Dominates 2012 Big West Championship:  The Aggies dominated the Big West Men’s and Women’s Golf Championships with each program taking home the title, the women’s third consecutive year and the men’s second straight title.  Each program continued on in postseason play with the automatic berth to the NCAA Regional competition.

UC Davis women’s golf collected its third consecutive Big West Women’s Golf Championship at the San Luis Obispo Country Club with a three round total of 898, outdistancing second place UC Irvine by 13 strokes. Three Aggies finished in the top five, led by individual tournament medalist Bev Vatananugulkit.  The freshman birdied three of the final four holes on the 6,169 yard course to fire a final round 73 and outduel junior teammate Amy Simanton for the title.

On the men’s side the Aggies captured their third title in the last four years finishing with a total of 858 (290-280-288) after three days of course play at the La Quinta Resort, Mountain Course in La Quinta, Calif. Leading all scorers was Alex Edfort of Pacific who shot an overall 13-under par for a five-stroke lead over the closest competitor. 

49ers Record Remarkable Season: First year head coach, Mickey Yokoi led the men’s squad to a school-record five tournament titles in 2011-12, with two players nabbing indiviudal titles.  He also guided the 49ers to a second place finish at the Big West Men’s Golf Championship, the program’s highest showing since taking the title in 2004, and an automatic berth to the NCAA Regionals seeded No. 7.