April 20, 2009
Big West Championship (live scoring and results)
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. - Brent Booth is tied for fifth at 2-under, leading three Aggies in the top 10, as the top-seeded UC Davis men's golf team took a two-shot lead after 36 holes of the Big West Conference Championship on Monday at San Luis Obispo Country Club.
The No. 28 Aggies, trying to clinch their first-ever berth to the NCAA Division I Championships, fired a tournament-best 2-under 286 in the second round at the par-72, 6,769-yard course to rally into the lead after trailing by four shots after the first 18 holes.
UC Davis is at 1-over 577, two strokes in front of defending champion UC Irvine and five in front of Pacific. UC Riverside is at 7-over while Long Beach State is eight shots back of the 49ers in fifth at the eight-team tournament.
Booth, a junior from Los Altos, carded a 70 in the afternoon's round, tying Austin Graham for team-low scoring honors. Senior Ramie Sprinkling had a 71, senior Nate Pistacchio shot a 75 and Phil Huffman posted a 77 as the Aggies made up ground to take the lead with 18 holes remaining.
Booth had an exceptional round in the afternoon, playing the front nine even but then carding birdies on the par-5, 476-yard 10th and the par-5, 505-yard 11th, to move to 2-under. He eventually got his round to 3-under before settling for a 70. He's tied for fifth at 142 with Michael Drake of Long Beach State.
Sprinkling, who like Booth shot 72 in the first round, is tied for seventh after combining for six birdies on the back nine during his two rounds. He opened his second round with an eagle on the par-5, 570-yard 1st hole, the only eagle yielded Monday on that hole.
Graham's second-round 70 featured five birdies while the front nine during his first-round 74 had three. He is in ninth place at 144. Huffman is tied for 23rd at 6-over, highlighting his day with a 73 in the first round after posting birdies on three of his last eight holes. Pistacchio had rounds of 76 and 75 and is tied for 25th at 7-over.
Andrew Patipaksiril of UC Riverside shot a 67 over the first 18 holes and then came back with a 71 in the second to take a two-shot lead at -6 over. UC Irvine's Michael Im is in second at 140.
The tournament concludes on Tuesday with the final round and will be followed by the announcement of the league's annual awards.
BIG WEST CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIP
San Luis Obispo, Calif.
San Luis Obispo Country Club
Par 72, 6,769 yards
36 of 54 holes
TEAMS
1. UC DAVIS, 291-286-577
2. UC Irvine, 292-287-579
3. Pacific, 294-288-582
4. UC Riverside, 287-296-583
5. Long Beach State, 305-286-591
6. UC Santa Barbara, 305-295-600
7. Cal Poly, 300-301-601
8. Cal State Northridge, 300-302-602
INDIVIDUALS
1. Andrew Patipaksiril, UC Riverside, 67-71-138
UC DAVIS
T5. Brent Booth, 72-70-142
T7. Ramie Sprinkling, 72-71-143
9. Austin Graham, 74-70-144
T23. Phil Huffman, 73-77-150
T25. Nate Pistacchio, 76-75-151
