Oct. 18, 2010
Live scoring and results
FAIRFAX, Calif. - Standout senior Austin Graham had 10 birdies during back-to-back rounds of 4-under 67 and 3-under 68 on Monday, finishing the first day of the Alister MacKenzie Invitational tied for ninth and leading the UC Davis men's golf team to a strong fourth-place showing after 36 holes.
The Aggies fired 8-under 276 in both rounds and are at 16-under 552 heading into Tuesday morning's final 18 holes. UC Davis is the highest team in the standings not ranked in the top 50 by Golfstat. It is just two shots behind third-place No. 43 Oregon State (550) and three in front of Big West rival UC Irvine (555), which is in sixth.
The Aggies enjoyed their best rounds of the fall so far, getting impressive scoring throughout their lineup. Junior Tyler Raber had a 71 in the first round and a team season-best 66 in the second and is tied for 11th at 5-under 137.
Sophomore Andrew Haggen and freshman Matt Hansen are both tied for 26th after each firing 69 in the opening round and then 71 in the second. Freshman Daniel Covrig is tied for 62nd, carding par-71 in the afternoon after shooting 75 in the morning.
Cal, ranked 22nd and winner last week of The Prestige at PGA WEST co-hosted by UC Davis and Stanford, leads its own event at Meadow Club after going an amazing 40 shots below par for a two-round total of 528. The Bears lead No. 15 San Diego State (538) by 10 shots.
Cal's Ben An and the Aztecs Alex Kang are tied for first among individuals at 13-under 129. Kang blitzed the course for a 9-under 62 in his first round while An had a 64 during his second. Kang's 62 featured seven birdies, an eagle and 10 pars.
UC Davis had just two rounds in the 60s entering this week's play - both of them coming in the season-opener at Washington in September - but picked up five more on Monday. Graham had two of them thanks to a pair of rounds that each were each highlighted by five birdies. He had a pair of birdies over his final four holes of the morning's round that pushed him to four below par and then capped his second round with one on the par-4, 4th hole to bring him in with a 68.
Raber's second round was spectacular, featuring five birdies and 13 pars. He had three birdies over a six-hole stretch and then had two more over the course's first four holes to get to five shots in the red before coming in with three straight pars.
Both Haggen and Hansen had four birdies during their opening-round 69s while Hansen added the team's only eagle when he carded a three on the 508-yard 15th hole during his second round. Covrig had six birdies on his day, adding 13 pars in the afternoon that helped him cut four shots from his first round.
The final round at the 6,708-yard course begins at 8:15 a.m. on Tuesday. UC Davis will play with San Francisco, Colorado and Fresno State.
ALISTER MacKENZIE INVITATIONAL
Meadow Club (Fairfax, Calif.)
Par 71, 6,708 yards
36 of 54 holes
TEAMS
1. Cal, 262-266-528
2. San Diego State, 267-271-538
3. Oregon State, 273-277-550
4. UC DAVIS, 276-276-552
5. UC Irvine, 277-278-555
6. Colorado State, 277-279-556
7. Oregon, 275-283-558
8. San Jose State, 276-284-560
9. Minnesota, 282-279-561
10. Penn State, 280-282-562
11. San Francisco, 277-288-565
12. Fresno State, 276-290-566
13. Wisconsin, 281-287-568
14. New Mexico, 285-287-572
15. Colorado, 283-291-574
16. Hawaii, 292-287-579
INDIVIDUAL
T1. Ben An, California, 65-64-129
T1. Alex Kang, San Diego State, 62-67-129
UC DAVIS
T9. Austin Graham, 67-68-135
T11. Tyler Raber, 71-66-137
T26. Andrew Haggen, 69-71-140
T26. Matt Hansen, 69-71-140
T62. Daniel Covrig, 75-71-146v
