SANTA CRUZ, Calif. — No. 23 men’s golf concluded the first round at 2-under par and tied with Pepperdine for fifth in the 79th Western Intercollegiate at Pasatiempo Golf Club on Monday.
“We got off to a little bit of a slow start, but really did a great job of hanging in there even when things got really tough on the back nine,” Director of Golf Todd Miller said. “In the last seven holes, it started really blowing, and it was easy to miss it in some bad spots. Even when we got out of position, we figured out how to make a bogey, which is really important at Pasatiempo.”
Each team in the top five found themselves separated from one another by two strokes or less. Cal led the way with a 7-under par in its first 18 holes. The Golden Bears were followed by UNLV in second at 6-under par then Stanford behind the Rebels at 4-under par. Fourth-place Arizona posted a 3-under-par day, with the Cougars and Waves a stroke behind it to round out the top-5.
Kihei Akina finished his day tied for fifth after a 3-under-par first round. The freshman carded seven birdies from holes three to 16, despite the wind picking up speed on the back nine.
“We played well,” Akina said. “Simon and I both fed off of each other which was nice. It got kind of tough there at the end. It got really windy coming in those last few holes. It’s my first time here, so I feel like I did a good job of controlling my ball around here.”
Simon Kwon and Peter Kim each carded a 1-under par on the day to hold a share of 20th. With the exception of hole eight, Kwon had a bogey-free round. Kim’s best hole was an eagle on hole nine after getting on the green in two and making the eagle putt on the par-5.
Tyson Shelley ended his day tied for 36th and recorded a 1-over-par round.
Jackson Mauss and Angus Klintworth both posted a 2-over par and sit tied for 44th through 18 holes.
“I'm really happy with the way the guys competed today and the decisions they made,” Miller said. “This is the trickiest course we will play all year. Focus tomorrow is to continue and have great energy and be proactive.”
Round two at Pasatiempo GC tees off for the Cougars on Tuesday morning at 10:12 a.m. MDT. The broadcast on the Golf Channel begins at 5 p.m. MDT, with the live leaderboard on Scoreboard and more updates on Instagram and X.