May 3, 2011
Complete Results
MISSION VIEJO, Calif. - Senior Austin Graham took home medalist honors, Tyler Raber tied for fourth and the UC Davis men's golf team won its second Big West Conference Championship in three years by an impressive 17 strokes on Tuesday at the Mission Viejo Country Club in Mission Viejo, Calif.
The Aggies placed all five golfers in the top 20 as Andrew Haggen finished 11th, Daniel Covrig finished 14th and Matt Hansen finished 17th.
"It's a great reflection on our team," said head coach Cy Williams. "We felt like we were the best team entering the tournament and our guys really earned that through their play all season."
Graham carded a 6-under 210 to claim a four-stroke victory over Cal State Northridge's Nick Delio. The conference title is the second for Graham in his UC Davis career as he bested teammate Ramie Sprinkling in a playoff for the 2009 individual championship.
He proved the most consistent player on the course as he fired three rounds of 70. In Tuesday's third round, Graham moved to one under with a birdie on the par-4 second hole before finishing his front nine with seven straight pars. He birdied twice more in his back nine to move to 3-under, but a bogey on the par-3 16th hole brought him back up one stroke. Graham closed out his final round with back-to-back pars to finish at 2-under.
"I am very happy for Austin," said Williams. "That is a hard golf course and he was methodical and very smart and very patient. He hit some great shots and then had a great short game when he needed to."
Raber shot a steady third round as well, making a birdie on the par-4 fifth hole followed by six straight pars. A second birdie on the par-5 17th brought him to 2-over as he completed his final round to finish at 4-over 220 for the tournament.
Haggen's third round was highlighted by a strong back nine as the sophomore carded seven pars en route to a 3-over 75. He would finish the tournament at 7-over.
Covrig shot a 10-over 226, made eagle on the 17th hole of his third round, while Hansen finished at 13-over 229.
UC Davis' final score was a 7-over 871 for the tournament, 17 strokes ahead of runner-up Pacific who finished at 24-over 888. Cal State Northridge was third at 31-over, edging Cal Poly by two strokes.
UC Irvine (+38), UC Santa Barbara (+57), Long Beach State (+67), Cal State Fullerton (+69) and UC Riverside (+74) completed the nine-team field.
The Aggies secured the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Regionals which will be held at six sites May 19-21. Tournament selections will be announced Monday.
UC Davis will return to the NCAA Championship for the third time in its four-year history as a Division I institution. The Aggies earned a team bid in 2009 after winning the conference championship while Graham was selected as an individual competitor in 2010.
BIG WEST MEN'S GOLF CHAMPIONSHIP
Mission Viejo, Calif.
Mission Viejo Country Club
Par 72; 7,069 yards
Final
TEAM
1. UC DAVIS, 288-288-295 - 871
2. Pacific, 291-293-304 - 888
3. Cal State Northridge, 306-283-306 - 895
4. Cal Poly, 295-292-310 - 897
5. UC Irvine, 301-299-302 - 902
6. UC Santa Barbara, 307-304-310 - 921
7. Long Beach State, 312-312-307 - 931
8. Cal State Fullerton, 314-301-318 - 933
9. UC Riverside, 307-313-318 - 938
INDIVIDUAL
1. Austin Graham, UC Davis, 70-70-70 - 210
UC DAVIS
1. Austin Graham, 70-70-70 - 210
T4. Tyler Raber, 71-75-74 - 220
11. Andrew Haggen, 77-71-75 - 223
T14. Daniel Covrig, 78-72-76 - 226
18. Matt Hansen, 70-78-81 - 229
