UC Davis men’s golf has enjoyed a steady stream of outstanding players entering the Cal Aggie Athletics Hall of Fame during the past seven years. Jason Boyd was the program’s inaugural inductee in 2010, then Scott Gordon followed a year later. Louie Bishop entered the Hall in 2013. Today, it is Austin Graham’s turn to join that elite group.
Originally from San Clemente, California, Graham captured All-Big West Conference accolades for four straight years, and became the first Aggie in program history to earn four team MVP awards. He won four tournaments as a collegiate golfer: the 2008 Kansas Invitational, the 2009 Cowboy Classic, and the Big West championships in both 2009 and 2011. Only a bout with appendicitis in 2010 prevented Graham from making a run for three straight league titles. Nonetheless, he won the Memorial Amateur during that 2010 offseason.
Furthermore, Graham achieved beyond the conference level. In 2009, he became the program’s first All-West Region honoree of the D-1 era. He returned to the NCAA regional as an individual qualifier during his junior season, then helped UC Davis to a team berth as a senior in 2011.
According to Aggie head coach Cy Williams, Graham owned the perfect blend of practice and passion to reach such levels of success. “He is easily the hardest worker I’ve ever had,” said Williams, “but he didn’t consider it work. He loved it. It’s all he wanted to do.”
Now six years removed from his collegiate career, Graham still holds school records for rounds under par and top-10 finishes. His 63 in the second round of the Prestige at PGA West tied another UC Davis benchmark. Finally, his career stroke average of 72.16 ranks second in Aggie history, behind only Matt Hansen.
Graham turned professional immediately following his graduation, and won his first pro tourney at the Gateway Tour’s CA Series 2 event less than a month later. He subsequently made his PGA Tour debut in 2012.
