It was all smiles for the Cal men's golf team Sunday afternoon as it left Cardinal territory following a sixth-place finish at the U.S. Intercollegiate at the Stanford Golf Course in Palo Alto, Calif.

"Overall, we played three good rounds," Bears coach Steve Desimone said. "We also beat a number of excellent teams. It was almost stronger than a regional field, which tells you we have a legitimate shot of advancing beyond the regionals to the finals, and that's exciting."

This finish could be exactly what Cal needs to rebuild its confidence after a spring season that so far has been inconsistent.

The Bears turned in their best finish of the spring with a third-place mark at the USC Collegiate Invitational in February. Since then, Cal had been in a slump, searching for a way around poor ball striking, substandard putting and shoddy course management.

This weekend was a different story.

Though no Bears individual finished in the top 20, their resilience was palpable, especially in the final round, as they climbed one spot from the beginning of the day to finish sixth.

One of the differences between this event and almost any other in the season was the consistent low numbers posted by each player. All five Cal players carded rounds in the low 70s.

"We have struggled a great deal this season, but the guys work hard non-stop and are relentless in their ability to compete at the highest level," Desimone said. "None of our guys played amazing, but everyone contributed and that was key."

Just as last week saw junior John Murphy lead the charge at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational, this week it was senior Michael Jensen's turn. Jensen finished at 1-under, tied for 21st place.

Jensen and senior George Gandranata, who finished at 1-over in a tie for 32nd, posted two of the lowest rounds of the event with 3-under scores of 67. John Murphy finished at 2-over, tied for 34th, Stephen Hale at 4-over, tied for 45th, and Eric Mina at 6-over, tied for 52nd place.

The real highlight of the event, however, was the performance of Washington. With a first-place overall finish of 36-under par, the Huskies left the rest of the competition in their wake. USC finished second, a distant 15 strokes behind.

"That doesn't really happen in college golf," Desimone said in reference to Washington's almost magical play this weekend. "They were definitely the talk of the tournament because this is no easy course, let alone the intimidation factor of the field. They put on quite a show."

Out of the 17 teams competing this weekend, the five that finished in front of Cal were all members of the Pac-10. The Bears will have a chance at vengeance next week when they compete at the Pac-10 Championship hosted by Washington, April 27-30 at the Seattle Golf Club.

Tags: CAL MEN'S GOLF, GEORGE GANDRANATA, MICHAEL JENSEN