LA QUINTA, Calif. – Ties abound after the first round of the 2023 Big West Men’s Golf Championship at La Quinta Country Club.
Triple-digit temperatures didn’t stall the impressive play on the 7,056-yard layout as the CSUN duo of Felix Schrott and Brandon McDonough both came in with 6-under 66 opening rounds to pace the Matadors into a three-way tie for first in the team standings. Schrott, a senior from Bolzano, Italy, finished with a bogey-free round, carding three birdies on both the front and back nines. Fellow senior teammate McDonough’s round included an eagle on the 527-yard par five sixth hole and four back-nine birdies.
Cal State Fullerton’s Harry Doig is one shot back on the individual leaderboard to pace the Titans. After a bogey on the first hole, the senior from Sydney, Australia, birdied six of the next eight holes for a 31 at the turn. Doig finished the round with a tournament-best nine birdies in the first round of play. The Titans closed the day with three men firing off under-par rounds with Russell Howlett tied for seventh at 2 under and Trevor McNary sitting at 1 under.
Long Beach State’s trio of Ian Gilligan, Isaac Rodea and Jack Cantlay each came in at 3-under 69 to land in a tie for fourth for the top-seeded Beach. Gilligan, listed No. 16 in the individual Golfstat rankings double-bogeyed the second hole, but fought back to get to under par by the turn and added three birdies and a bogey on the back nine of the round. The 2022 Big West Freshman of the Year was runner-up in the Championship last season.
Cal State Fullerton, CSUN and Long Beach State combined for a 7-under 281 in the team scoring and the trio are set to tee off in Monday’s first grouping at 10 a.m. The threesome are the only under-par teams in the field through the first 18 holes.
The second team grouping off the tee on Monday starting at 10:50 a.m. is Cal Poly, UC Irvine and Hawai’i. Mustang Ben Quick and Anteater Darien Zhao closed the day in a three-way tie for seventh to pace their respective squads. The lead golfer for the Rainbow Warriors is freshman Josh Hayashida, who finished at even par for the round.
Rounding out the Day 2 tee times is the grouping of UC Davis, UC Santa Barbara and UC Riverside. Defending champions from a season ago, the Aggies sit at +8 in the team scoring, 15 strokes behind the leaders. The UC trio is set to begin the second round of play at 11:40 a.m. from La Quinta Country Club.
|
Team Leaderboard
|
|
Place
|
Team
|
Score
|
|
T-1.
|
Cal State Fullerton
|
281 (-7)
|
|
|
CSUN
|
281 (-7)
|
|
|
Long Beach State
|
281 (-7)
|
|
4.
|
Cal Poly
|
290 (+2)
|
|
5.
|
UC Irvine
|
291 (+3)
|
|
6.
|
Hawai’i
|
293 (+5)
|
|
7.
|
UC Davis
|
296 (+8)
|
|
8.
|
UC Santa Barbara
|
298 (+10)
|
|
9.
|
UC Riverside
|
306 (+18)
|
|
Individual Top 10
|
|
Place
|
Player (School)
|
Score
|
|
t-1.
|
Felix Schrott (CSUN)
|
66 (-6)
|
|
|
Brandon McDonough (CSUN)
|
66 (-6)
|
|
3.
|
Harry Doig (Cal State Fullerton)
|
67 (-5)
|
|
t-4.
|
Ian Gilligan (Long Beach State)
|
69 (-3)
|
|
|
Isaac Rodea (Long Beach State)
|
69 (-3)
|
|
|
Jack Cantlay (Long Beach State)
|
69 (-3)
|
|
t-7.
|
Darien Zhao (UC Irvine)
|
70 (-2)
|
|
|
Ben Quick (Cal Poly)
|
70 (-2)
|
|
|
Russell Howlett (Cal State Fullerton)
|
70 (-2)
|
|
10.
|
Trevor McNary (Cal State Fullerton)
|
71 (-1)
|