UC Davis men’s golf finishes fifth place in the Men’s Big West Golf Championship
By DIEGO CERNA — sports@theaggie.org
The UC Davis men’s golf team concluded their regular season by competing in the Big West Men’s Golf Championship in La Quinta, California. The tournament was held at the La Quinta Country Club Course over the span of three days from April 28 to 30.
UC Davis won fifth place out of nine teams for the tournament, with the team also ending every round in fifth.
Lucas Carper, a fourth-year mechanical engineering major, placed in the top 10 for individual performances during the tournament. Carper placed seventh individually overall and ended with a score of 71-73-73 for all three rounds. With this championship being his last competition, Carper finished strong.
Carper ended his collegiate career with a decorated resume, obtaining one All Big West First Team award, one All Big West Conference First Team award, one Big West Conference Individual Champion award and one Big West Conference Second Team award.
Treed Huang and Leo Metzger, first-year undeclared majors, were right behind Carper in rankings for the Aggies. Huang played as the second-best Aggie in the tournament, tying for 18th place among the competition’s golfers. Huang also came in third for carding the most par 3’s throughout the tournament, tying five other golfers for scoring even par.
Metzger finished third for the Aggies, tying for 24th place overall. Metzger impressively carded an eagle in the first round at the longest hole — which was 543 feet and had a par of 5. This freshman duo has continued to impress throughout the season and showcased their impressive talent on the grass over the weekend.
To round off the lineup, fifth-year Mark Stephens and fourth-year Alejandro Nava had a very strong performance as well. Stephens tied for 30th place, while Nava tied for 34th place overall. Like Carper, this may be both Stephens’ and Nava’s last time touching the green in their collegiate careers.
The most impressive outing for the Aggies throughout the championship was the second round, as the team improved by a total of 10 shots from the first round.
Nava, Huang and Carper placed in the top 12 for most individual pars across all tournament players. Nava carded 35 pars out of the total 54 holes, while Huang and Carper carded 34 pars each. Stephens and Metzer didn’t finish far behind, as both carded 32 pars.
At the end of the tournament, the Long Beach State Sharks claimed their fifth Big West Championship in their school’s history, earning the team the title of back-to-back champions from their previous championship in 2023.
The Sharks were led by fourth-year Clay Sleeber, who finished second individually overall. Sleeber finished behind Cal State Fullerton’s fourth-year Teegan Andrew, who was crowned the Individual Big West Tournament Champion with his 14 strokes below par performance.
Long Beach State’s victory helped them automatically qualify for the NCAA Men’s Golf Regional Rounds which will be held at the University of North Carolina’s Finley Golf Course from May 13 to 15. They set their sights on having a chance to compete in the NCAA Division 1 Men’s Golf National Championships held in Carlsbad, California, which is set to take place from May 24 to 29.
As for the Aggies, they will say goodbye to some of their fourth-year players and show gratitude for their many contributions. The rest of the team is looking forward to their next season in hopes of redeeming this year’s loss and winning the championship next year.
Written by: Diego Cerna — sports@theaggie.org
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