Air Force Academy, CO. — UC Davis men's golf wrapped up the third and final round at the Gene Miranda Falcon Invitational with a top-three finish, tying for third place with Valparaiso. 

Coming in at even par for the tournament, the third-place finish shatters all of the placements from UC Davis last season. Recapturing some of the magic the Aggies have recently had at Gene Miranda, this was the first top-three finish during a regular season tournament for UC Davis since the 2021-22 season when Thomas Hutchison led UC Davis to a first-place standing behind a historic performance.

This time around, the Aggies relied on a complete team effort, with Mark Stephens, Lucas Carper, and Jacob Westberg all tying for 24th place individually with 1-over par, 217 three-round totals. In a sport where steadiness and consistency are king, the Aggie's ability to produce time and time again on par 5s and par 4s gave way to a top-three finish. The Aggies were second in scoring on these holes throughout the tournament.

Carper, a three-time All Big-West team member had it firing on all cylinders today for UC Davis, recording a team-low round of 70 for 2-under-par. As mentioned, the Aggies made sure to capitalize on every par 5 and Carper was no exception, recording birdies on three of the four par 5s today.

Following Carper were Mark Stephens and Jacob Westberg who were both even par today. After a steady round yesterday filled with pars and a couple of birdies, Westberg had a completely different type of round, recording six birdies in response to make up for the ground he gave away with a few bogeys. Stephens on the other hand echoed the performance from Westberg a day ago as he would finish with two birdies, and 14 pars for his successful round. 

After their blazing starts in the prior two rounds, Leo Metzger and Treed Huang were able to round out the strong finish for the Aggies with rounds of 78 for Metzger and 79 for Huang.

An already historically good start to the season for the Aggies, UC Davis had even more success on the individual side of things with Alejandro Nava nearly capturing the title on the Silver Course at Eisenhower Golf Course. 

Nava shot a third-round-low of 68 and earned his way to a playoff with Cal Poly's Louis Pilod and Northern Colorado's TJ Shehee. Ultimately, Shehee would capture the victory after the second playoff hole. With his record-breaking 64 round yesterday and his second-best career score of 68 today, Nava was able to put together the best performance of his career.

Logan Green also wrapped up his week on the Silver Course with a 19th-place finish and carded a four-over par, 76 to conclude his tournament.

The Aggies will pick back up right where they left off on Monday, September, 18 as they head to Harding Park for the Howard Intercollegiate hosted by San Francisco. 

GENE MIRANDA FALCON INVITATIONAL

Eisenhower Blue Golf Course (USAFA, Colo.)

Par 72 • 7,541 Yards

TEAM SCORES

1. Colorado State, -13

3. UC Davis, E

INDIVIDUAL SCORES (FINAL)

(Leaders plus UC Davis scores)

1. Caleb VanArragon, -13

T24. Lucas Carper, +1

T24. Jacob Westberg, +1

T24. Mark Stephens, +1

T35. Leo Metzger, +3

T40. Treed Huang, +4

GENE MIRANDA FALCON INVITATIONAL INDIVIDUAL TOURNAMENT

Eisenhower Silver Golf Course (USAFA, Colo.)

Par 72 • 6,510 Yards

INDIVIDUAL SCORES (FINAL)

(Leaders plus UC Davis scores)

1. TJ Shehee, Northern Colorado, -10 (*winner of second playoff hole)

T1. Alejandro Nava, -10

19. Logan Green, +7