The men’s golf team, claiming their second Big West title since 2015, earned a spot in the Pacific Regional NCAA Tournament where they were seeded No. 12. After stand out performances from seniors David Kim and Ramiz Jamal, the ‘Eaters finished 11th, shooting 8 over par with 872 strokes. Kim shot 72-70-74, which tied Ramiz with his line at 69-76-71.
Round One
The ‘Eater’s opening round ended with the No. 12 seeded Anteaters finishing tied for Seventh with Colorado after shooting 290 +2. The ‘Eater’s first round was highlighted by Ramiz Jamal’s 69 -3, that had him in a four way tie for eighth place. Kim’s 72 par round was good enough for a 27th place finish through the first 18 holes. The 290 finish from the ‘Eaters put them 12 strokes behind Iowa State’s 278. However the ‘Eater’s real goal was to place top five so they could advance to the next round of the NCAA Tournament. After their opening performance, UCI was just five strokes over fifth place. Senior Ryan O’Connor shot a 74 and finished with a -1 on all par threes in the first round. Ramiz played consistent on par fives, shooting a -3 on all par fives. In addition to his skill on the par fives, Ramiz had five birdies in the first round.
Round Two
The ‘Eaters kissed the top five in team score early in the second round but dropped to 12th after finishing with a score of 293 bringing their 36 hole score to 583. UCI sitting at +7 found themselves 21 strokes behind Iowa and Alabama who were tied at 562. David Kim climbed into a tie for 18th after he shot a 70 -2 on the day, UCI’s best score. Ramiz who started tied for eighth dropped to a tie for 34th after his round of 76. Par fives again proved a place where the ‘Eaters could excel as Sophomore Jonathan Kang shot a -4 on all par fives. Kang improved five strokes with his 71 -1 and four birdies on the day. David Kim and Kang had an impressive number of pars, Kang with 24 and Kim tying for first with 28.
Round Three
The ‘Eaters had one of their best rounds of the tournament with a 289. The ‘Eater’s were able to drop a spot in the rankings and finish 11th in team points (290-293-289) 872 +8. Their 872 strokes were 28 strokes behind the first place team, Kansas, who claimed the title only one stroke ahead of second place Stanford. Their 11th place finish was good enough to beat No. 9 Keenshaw and No. 13 North Dakota State. Kim shot 74, two over par and dropped 12 spots in rankings, but tied with fellow Senior Ramiz Jamal through the 54 hole tournament. Again, Ryan O’Connor saw success on par threes, finishing with a -2 on all par three holes. Sophomore Jonathan Kang tied for 54th at 221 (76-71-74), while senior Jonathan Young tied for 72nd with a 229 (75-77-77). The ‘Eaters finished strong with solid performances at the highest level of competition they had competed at all year. Though they did not advance and their season came to an end, men’s golf showed what the ‘Eaters have to offer.
