The Bears finished up today in Santa Cruz, posting a solid fourth place finish in the Western Intercollegiate. Conditions were pretty tough, with both cold weather and an unusually difficult course set up to contend with. Sophomore Evan Derian also withdrew from the first day’s action due to illness and definitely wasn’t at full strength on day two. That said, a fourth place finish behind two respectable ranked teams (the tourney winner St. Mary’s and runner-up Michigan St.) doesn’t seem too shabby. Especially considering that Cal was only six strokes over St. Mary’s score of +40.

As usual, freshman Stephen Hale and junior All-American candidate George Gandranata showed why they are two of the most consistent of the Cal golfers. George tied for sixth place overall at 10 over and Stephen ended in 10th place. Freshman Eric Mina posted up the best finish of his young collegiate career in 17nd place, and senior Brandon Beck rounded out the top four in 21st place. Coach Desimone has stressed the importance of getting all team members involved in every round, and he can’t be disappointed with the way the Bears have been performing lately.

The Bears will be hitting the links again on April 11-13 for the Thunderbird Invitational hosted by ASU.

Popularity: 37%