After an underwhelming showing at the Gopher Invitational to tee off the 2013-14 season, No. 1 Cal rebounded with a strong effort to place first at the St. Mary’s Invitational at the Bayonet and Black Horse Golf Courses in Seaside, Calif., on Monday and Tuesday. Not only did Cal win — it crushed the competition (288-282-284 – 854, -10), leaving no doubt it is the best team in the country. The win puts Cal back on track for another Pac-12 title.
After struggling without Michael Kim and Michael Weaver two weeks prior, the Bears scored an overwhelming 30 shots lower than second-place Oregon (297-293-294 – 884, +20). Among other notable teams that competed were No. 25 St. Mary’s (294-294-301 – 889, +25) and San Diego (304-287-295 – 886, +22).
“Our hope is to try and get better with each tournament,” said associate head coach Walter Chun. “Our ultimate goal is to defend our Pac-12 title but also to try and win the state championship.”
Led by the senior Weaver (70-70-70 – 210, -6) who played consistently well each round on the par-72 courses, Cal dominated from start to finish, shooting at or below par in all three rounds of play. Weaver drilled five birdies in the first round and followed his excellent play with seven in the second round. But his double bogey on the par-5 eighth hole severely hurt his lead over Grant Forrest of San Diego State (71-69-69 – 209, -7) who beat Weaver by one stroke.
Forrest was tied with Weaver going into the final day of play, with senior Brandon Hagy (71-71-69 – 211, -5) trailing by two strokes. Weaver held a one-stroke lead over Forrest after two birdies on the 10th and 11th holes. Forrest then birdied the par-3 17th and par-5 18th holes to clinch the game, narrowly beating Weaver.
“I thought I played well and had a good start,” Hagy said. “I hit the ball well and didn’t have any bogeys.”
Cal had three of the top-10 golfers, with junior Michael Kim (78-68-72 – 218, +2) joining Weaver and Hagy. Kim struggled in the first round, racking up five bogeys and two double bogeys. The All-American bounced back in the second round, however, shooting four under par. This, along with his par performance in the third round, gave Kim a relatively disappointing eighth-place finish.
Ringing out the bottom for Cal, Shotaro Ban (69-73-78 – 220, +4) shot an impressive 69 the first round but got progressively worse as the tournament wore on. He had five bogeys in the third round alone, including a double bogey on the par-4 ninth hole. Pace Johnson (71-76-73 – 220, +4) played a well-balanced game and tied with Ban for a 12th-place finish.
“They played great. It was a team effort from top to bottom,” Chun said. “They just played well.”
Winston Cho covers men’s golf. Contact him at [email protected].