The UC Riverside Highlanders slipped into a tie for 13th place after day two of the NCAA West Regional Tournament in Sunriver Resort Crosswater Course in Oregon Friday.
UCR shot a 293 on Thursday, good for 10th place, but fell to 297 on Friday. They are tied for 13th with Pepperdine, 20 shots behind first place New Mexico and seven out of 10th place. The top 10 teams advance to the championships.
Individually, Brendan Steele shot a 72 and remained one under par for the tournament at 143, good for a tie for 19th place. Brandon Hillpot shot a four-over 76 and is tied for 41st at four over 148. Spencer Paschall is seven over at 151 following a second round 78, Trevor Schultz is eight over following a second-round 75 for a two round total of 152, and Eric Riehle is ten-over at 154 following a second round 74.
Beach Tied For 21st Place After Two Rounds
The Long Beach State men's golf team is tied for 21st place after two rounds of the NCAA West Regionals at Sunriver Resort in Bend, OR. The Beach shot a 307 on the second day after finishing with a 299 in its opening round on Thursday. The University of New Mexico leads with a 570 (284-286) and UCLA is in second place with a 571 (283-288).
Individually, Jeremy Keller is tied for 51st place with a four-over-par 148 (73-75). Todd Saukkola is tied for 72nd with a 151 (75-76) and Brett Lederer is tied for 95th with a 153 (74-79). There are four players tied for first place, each shooting a 139. Oscar Alvarez (BYU), Travis Johnson (UCLA), Henry Liaw (Arizona) and Chris Nallen (Arizona) are all battling it out for the individual title.
UC Irvine in 24th After Two Rounds
UCI is in 24th place at 614 after the first two rounds. Long Beach State is tied for 21st at 606 and UC Riverside is tied for 13th at 590.
After the first two days of play, the Anteaters' Will Park is 72nd at 151 (75-76), Jay Choe is in 82nd place at 152 (75-77), Neno Boonyaplanun is 107th at 155 (75-80), Vinnie Poncino is in 113th place at 156 (78-78) and Derek Uyesaka is 128th at 160 (80-80).
Bertoni Falls into Tie for 51st Place After Second
Round at NCAA West Regional in Sunriver, Oregon
Cal Poly sophomore Travis Bertoni shot a 78 Friday in the second round of the NCAA Division I West Regional, dropping from eighth place into a tie for 51st place with 12 other golfers, all with four-over-par 148 totals.
Bertoni, who shot a two-under-par 70 Thursday at the Crosswater Club in Sunriver, near Bend, Ore., is one of six individuals who qualified for the three-day tournament on the 7,597-yard, par-72 course. A total of 27 teams also are competing in the 54-hole event.
Ten teams and two individuals from each of three regionals will advance to the NCAA Division I National Championships, to be conducted June 1-4 at Cascades Golf Course, The Homestead in Hot Springs, Virginia.
The other two regional tournaments are being held at the Yale Golf Club in New Haven, Conn. (East) and the Brick Boilermaker, Kampen Course, in West Lafayette, Ind. (Central).
Bertoni, who carded three birdies and a bogey Thursday, had just one birdie Friday, the 16th hole, and bogeyed seven holes, including three of the first four.
He will tee off at 10 a.m. in Saturday's final round.
First-round leader Travis Johnson of UCLA had a one-over-par 73 Friday and is in a four-way tie for the lead after two rounds with Oscar Alvarez of Brigham Young, Henry Liaw of Arizona and Chris Nallen, also of Arizona.
New Mexico leads UCLA by one stroke entering Saturday's final round.
Bertoni is a West Regional qualifier for the second straight year. The Paso Robles High School graduate became Cal Poly's first golfer to qualify for a Division I regional last year and shot a two-over-par 54-hole 218 total at Washington National Golf Course in Auburn, Wash., three strokes short of qualifying for the nationals. He finished 16th.
This season, Bertoni earned Big West Conference Golfer of the Year after winning three tournaments and averaging 71.7 strokes per round. He is ranked 42nd in the nation by GolfStat.com.
Bertoni earned his fifth career individual title April 13 at the Wyoming Cowboy Classic in Scottsdale, Ariz., where he tied his career best with a three-round 204. He also won the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Men's Golf Tournament on April 6 at La Purisima Golf Club in Lompoc and the Northwest Collegiate Classic on Sept. 26 in Corvallis, Ore.
Bertoni also earned second-place finishes at the Cal Poly/Fidelity National Title Intercollegiate on March 26 at Cypress Ridge Golf Course in Arroyo Grande and at the Anteater Invitational on Feb. 24 at the Santa Ana Country Club.
He shot 54-hole 204 totals in the Wyoming, Cal Poly and Oregon State events.
Bertoni's victories as a freshman came in the Family Motors Invitational hosted by Cal State Bakersfield and the Cal Poly/Fidelity National Title Intercollegiate at Cypress Ridge. He was named to the PING All-West Region Team by the Golf Coaches Association of America and averaged 72.3 strokes per round as a freshman.
Bertoni, sixth-place finisher in the Big West Conference Championships three weeks ago at the Tijeras Creek Golf Club in Rancho Santa Margarita, has 11 top-10 finishes in his two-year Mustang career and 17 top-20 finishes. He has shot 16 rounds in the 60s and 33 rounds of par or better, including Thursday's 70.
His best collegiate round was a 65 in the Santa Clara Invitational on Oct. 27, 2003, and he has shot 66 nine times, the last time at the Wyoming Cowboy Classic on April 12, 2004.
Bertoni carded a hole-in-one at the Northwest Collegiate Classic on Sept. 25 at the Trysting Tree Golf Club in Corvallis, Ore. It was a 216-yard shot on the fourth hole in the first round.
Live scoring of the tournament is available at www.golfstatresults.com. Go to the Live Scoring feature and select the NCAA Division I Men's West Regional.
The University of Portland is the host school.