May 14, 2009
UC Davis Men's Golf Postseason Media Guide 
NCAA Div. I West Regional (live scoring)
Complete First-Round Results in PDF Format
Round 2 Tee times
DALY CITY, Calif. -- Senior Nate Pistaccho birdied two of his final four holes to fight back to a 1-over par 73 as the No. 26 UC Davis men's golf team opened the NCAA Division I West Regional by finishing the first round in 12th place at Lake Merced Golf Club on Thursday.
The Aggies, making their first NCAA postseason appearance since their Div. II membership in 2003, shot a 10-over 298 and are in 12th place in the 13-team regional. Fourteenth-ranked Arizona State shot a 9-under 279 at the par-72, 6,849-yard course and holds a one-shot lead over No. 37 New Mexico State.
The top five teams in the 54-hole championship, which runs through Saturday, will advance to the NCAA Finals in Toledo, Ohio, in two weeks. Twelfth-ranked Texas A&M is in third two shots off the pace at 7-under, No. 35 Oregon is fourth at 6-under and second-ranked USC is in fifth place at 3-under.
The Aggies are four shots behind 11th-place Kansas State and two in front of 12th-place Oregon State.
"We'll play better, we're a good team," said head coach Cy Williams. "We've just got to play great golf the next two rounds, that's all... We made it a little harder on ourselves but we're great players so we're going to be ready to play."
Pistacchio is tied for 37th after firing his 73, leading the UC Davis quintet. Sophomore Austin Graham is tied for 49th after shooting 74, freshman Tyler Raber posted a 75 and is tied for 53rd, senior Ramie Sprinkling carded a 76 and is tied for 60th and junior Brent Booth shot 78 and is in 71st place.
Pistacchio evened his front nine with a pair of birdies and two bogeys but moved to 3-over afer a double-bogey on the par-4 5th hole, the 14th hole of his round. However, he birdied the par-5, 500-yard 6th and also the par-3 8th to get back to 1-over before closing with a par.
Graham highlighted his 2-over day with three birdies including one on his final hole, the par-5 9th, joining Sprinkling with closing birdies. Graham played both his front and back nines just one shot over par.
Raber had a birdie on both sides, adding 11 pars for his 75 while Sprinkling posted three birdies, shooting 2 over on both his front nine and back nine for a 76. Booth was playing a steady round, moving to even after 13 holes, but played the final five holes 6 over to end with a 78.
Matthew Giles of USC shot a first-round 65 and leads Jesper Kennegard of Arizona State by one shot. Nineteen players broke par on the first day.
The Aggies will tee off Friday's second round beginning at 9:20 a.m.
NCAA DIVISION I WEST REGION CHAMPIONSHIP
Lake Merced Golf Club (Daly City, Calif.)
Par 72, 6,849 yards
18 of 54 holes
TEAMS
1. Arizona State, 279
2. New Mexico, 280
3. Texas A&M, 281
4. Oregon, 282
5. Southern California, 285
6. San Diego State, 286
7. San Diego, 288
8. UC Irvine, 289
T9. Colorado, 291
T9. San Francisco, 291
11. Kansas State, 294
12. UC DAVIS, 298
13. Oregon State 300
INDIVIDUALS
1. Matthew Giles, USC, 65
UC DAVIS
T37. Nate Pistacchio, 73
T49. Austin Graham, 74
T53. Tyler Raber, 75
T60. Ramie Sprinkling, 76
71. Brent Booth, 78
