MISSION VIEJO, Calif. - The UC San Diego men's golf team finished in eighth place out of 11 teams competing at the 60th Annual Southern California Intercollegiate Championship at the Mission Viejo Country Club on Tuesday. The Tritons began the day in sixth place, but shot a 331 in the third and final round for a total score of 957.
UCSD fired an impressive 310 in the opening round on Monday to move into third place, but the Tritons were unable to match that effort, finishing with team scores of 316 and 331 in the last two rounds.
Junior Keith Okasaki was UCSD' top individual finisher, carding the team's best round of the day with a 7-over par, 78 on Tuesday. He wrapped up the tournament with a final total of 233, good for a share of 10th place.
Despite shooting his highest round of the tournament on Tuesday, sophomore Michael Neustadt was the Tritons' next-lowest finisher, coming in tied for 20th place at 239. He shot an 85 in the third round after carding rounds of 78 and 76 to lead UCSD entering the final day.
Neustadt finished three strokes in front of teammate Richard Morris, who finished with a final tally of 242 after a final round 83. Justin Gabbert rounded out the scoring for the Triton linksters, carding an 85 on Tuesday for a three-round total of 257.
The Tritons also had three players competing as individuals, as Anubhav Rastogi, Bryan Olshock, and Austin Alfonso, all honed their scores on the 7,143-yard, par-71 course. Rastogi finished with a final score of 238 following a third-round 82, while Olshock and Alfonso finished the day at 250 (87) and 262 (91), respectively.
Defending NCAA Division II National Champion Sonoma State, which entered the day with a commading 16-stroke lead, fired a 312 in the third round to win the team title and claim the SoCal. Intercollegiate trophy with a score of 919. The Seawolves' were led by the play of Janssen Todd, who finished fourth overall with a final tally of 225.
St. Edwards University had the best round of the day with a 306 on Tuesday, but the Hilltoppers were only able to shave six strokes off Sonoma's lead and had to settle for second place. SEU wrapped up the tournament with a three-round total of 929, finishing seven shots in front of third place Cal State San Bernardino.
Individual medalist honors went to St. Edward's Colin Mayer, who carded a 76 in the final round to conclude play at 7-over par, 220. Ryan IndoVina of Cal State Dominguez Hills finished second with a final score of 9-over par, 222 (77), while Post University's David McGregor carded a three-round total of 11-over par, 224 (72) to take third.
St. Edward's Matthew Hatcher had the lowest score of the final round, carding an even 71 to match Mayer and IndoVina for tournament low-round honors.
The Tritons are back in action next week with the Grand Canyon Thunderbird Invitational March 29-30 at the Palm Valley Golf Club in Goodyear, Ariz.
