Feb. 27, 2012
LONG BEACH, Calif. - Mike Brockington defeated both of his opponents while Josh Granger finished all square with Oregon's Daniel Miernicki, ranked 27th nationally by Golfstat, as the UC Davis men's golf team finished the first day of action at the Del Walker Match Play Championship in Long Beach.
UC Davis fell by scores of 4-1 to Washington, the No. 4 team in Div. I, and 4-0-1 to Oregon, ranked tenth nationally.
Brockington made his UC Davis spring debut on Monday and provided UC Davis' lone win over the fourth-ranked Huskies. He held a 2-up advantage on Washington's Larry Iverson after a par on the sixth hole, but Iverson retook a 1-up lead with a par of his own on the 11th hole.
Brockington evened things up on the 14th hole with a birdie and the two remained even until the UC Davis freshman made par on the 17th hole for the 1-up lead. Both players made par on the final hole to seal Brockington's win.
Despite holding a 3-up lead through 10 holes, freshman Luke Vivolo fell 1-up to his opponent, Charlie Hughes. Andrew Haggen (7&5), Josh Granger (5&4) and Matt Hansen (3&2) dropped their matches as well.
Brockington provided the lone Aggie win in UC Davis' matchup against No. 10 Oregon, defeating Rak Cho, ranked 62nd in the nation, 2-and-1.
Cho held the lead through 12 holes and held a 3-up advantage after parring the seventh hole, but Brockington rallied, making par on his next two holes. A birdie on the par-5 12th hole gave Cho a slim 1-up lead over Brockington, who then pulled all square with par on the 13th hole.
He stayed even with Cho before taking a 1-up lead on the 16th hole after he found par for the fourth straight time while Cho bogeyed. Brockington's birdie on the par-4 17th hole moved him to 2-up, sealing his victory.
Granger's match against Miernicki was equally impressive as the Aggie junior rallied from a two down deficit after 13 holes.
Miernicki held a two-up advantage entering the eleventh hole, but Granger's par cut Miernicki's lead to 1-up. Miernicki took back his 2-up lead with a birdie on the par-5 12th hole and held it until Granger chipped in for eagle on the par-4 14th hole.
Granger birdied his next hole, which moved the match to all square, and both players parred out to halve their match.
Vivolo (5&4) and Haggen (withdrew) dropped their matches while Hansen fell 5 and 4 to Eugene Wong, the No. 1 Div. I golfer in the country.
Hansen held a 1-up lead on Wong through the first eight holes, but Wong moved the match to all square with a birdie on the par-4 ninth hole. He claimed the win after Hansen bogeyed three of his next four holes.
UC Davis completes action at the Del Walker Match Play Championship on Tuesday.
