Sophomore Michael Kim started the Fresno State Lexus Classic on Monday with average strokes, but he picked up his game during the last four holes. On the 17th hole of the Belmont Country Club, he scored his first of seven consecutive birdies.
This momentum carried through to Tuesday, when he finished the tournament with a 37-stroke lead.
With the conclusion of the tournament, he tied a school record of three consecutive victories. In total, Kim held a team high of 15 birdies, redeeming his two earlier bogeys.
No. 1 Cal men’s golf team’s junior Brandon Hagy (-10) and junior Michael Weaver took second and third places, respectively, pushing the Bears into first place.
“My favorite moment was walking to my ball on 18 green, just knowing that my team won and I won,” Kim said. “In the last two tournaments that I won, I still had a lot of work to do.”
Kim, Hagy and Weaver’s performances marked the second consecutive tournament in which the Bears held the first, second and third spots. The trio had never accomplished this feat before.
Cal has won seven of its last eight away tournaments. In total, it won 13 of 22 tournaments since the fall of 2011 and finished in the top five in every other event.
“We have made it look really easy out there, almost too easy,” Cal coach Steve Desimone said. “We’ve been holding down the No. 1 spot for five-plus months now. That’s a lot of baggage to carry.”
The Bears also benefitted from playing at the Belmont Country Club at Fresno, Calif.
“It’s an interesting course,” Desimone said. “It’s short and tactical, so you have to play the ball both ways. You have to hit the ball with some height, which was very beneficial, especially for Weaver and Hagy.”
The Bear’s versatility as a team is apparent in their leader boards. Junior Joel Stalter and senior Max Homa, along with Weaver, claimed the top three spots of the previous tournament at the John A. Burns Intercollegiate. This week, Kim and Hagy dominated the field.
Max Homa finished 22nd in the tournament, with a final score of -1. By Tuesday, he reduced his number of bogeys to one and had a total of 10 birdies.
“It is competitive between us, but it is a good thing,” Stalter said. “We push each other to achieve our goals.”
Stalter, currently ranked as the No.1 player in the nation by Golfstat and No. 2 by Golfweek, didn’t have as great of a game as last week. He birdied seven holes on Monday, but three bogeys and one double-bogey left him with a score of -2.
On Tuesday, Stalter had only one bogey. He finished the day with a final score of -6 after 10 pars and five birdies.
“Some weeks you have it, and some weeks you don’t,” Desimone said. “That’s what’s so amazing about how consistent it has been.
“We have five or six players that are virtually interchangeable,” Desimone added. “When you have five players that are ranked in the top 15 in the nation for youth, you know that at any time, any of them can take it deep and get it going. It’s a real luxury.”
Alexa Cammarano covers men’s golf. Contact her at [email protected]