March 17, 2010

TUCSON - Cal ended the first day of action Wednesday at the National Invitational Tournament tied for fifth place with an 11-over par 36-hole total team score of 587 (294-293). The Bears are 18 shots behind first-day leader TCU (286-283 - 569, -7) and also trail host Arizona (293-284 - 577, +1), Texas (291-288 - 579, +3) and Baylor (289-292 - 581, +5) in the event being held at the Omni Tucson National. Cal is tied for fifth place with SMU (293-294 - 587, +11).

"All I know is that we should be a whole lot closer to par than we are right now," said head coach Steve Desimone. "Good teams finish strong and that's something we've done all year, but we sure didn't do it today."

Stephen Hale is the top Golden Bears individual after the first 36 holes with a one-over par score of 145 (73-72) and is six shots off the pace set by first day co-leaders Johan de Beer of TCU (68-71 - 139, -5) and Joakim Mikkelsen of Baylor (70-69 - 139, -5).

Hale's one-over par first round was steady with 15 pars, one birdie and two bogeys. His even-par second round had more ups and downs with his four birdies offset by two bogeys and a double bogey. He did birdie three of his final five holes on the day after being three-over par for the round after the first 12 holes.

Chad Vivolo (71-75 - 146, +2) is just one place and one stroke behind Hale in a tie for 14th place. Vivolo's first round of one-under par was the only under-par round of golf played by the Bears on Wednesday. The round consisted of three birdies, two bogeys and 13 pars, and he was never over par during the round. He played the first 14 holes of his second round at even par with two birdies offsetting a double bogey on his 10th hole of the round but bogeyed three of his final four holes to end up at three-over par.

Michael Weaver (76-73 - 149, +5) recovered from a rough start to move into a tie for 33rd place at the end of the first day. Weaver was six-over par after the first 10 holes of his first round but came up with two birdies on the back nine to salvage a four-over 76. He had a relatively consistent second round of one-over par 73 despite bogeying two of his final four holes after being one-under through his first 14.

Eric Mina (74-76 - 150) has arguably been the team's most consistent player this season but had one of his most difficult days of the campaign on Wednesday. He bogeyed his first two holes of the day before playing even par with two additional bogeys and two birdies over the remainder of the round. He then double-bogeyed his final hole of the day in the second round after four previous bogeys and two birdies to finish four-over par for the round and six-over par for the day.

Max Homa (78-73 - 151, +7) is tied for 45th and recovered from a six-over par first round with a one-over par effort over his final 18 holes. Homa bogeyed seven of his first 12 holes before settling down to shoot even-par over his final six of the first round. He was more consistent in his second round with 15 pars, two bogeys and a birdie

The event will conclude on Thursday with the final 18 holes getting underway at 8:00 a.m. PDT.

"We need to make better decisions on the golf course Thursday," said Desimone. "We made some poor decisions today that led to some bogeys and double bogeys. We just can't give shots away the way we did this afternoon. If we make better decisions that will lead to better scoring right off the top. If we play smart golf tomorrow and we hit a few better shots, the results will come from that."

National Invitational Tournament (Hosted by Arizona)
Tucson, AZ - Omni Tucson National (Par 72, 7,200 yards)

TEAM STANDINGS (after 1 of 2 days/2 of 3 rounds/36 of 54 holes)
1. TCU (286-283 - 569, -7)
2. Arizona (293-284 - 577, +1)
3. Texas (291-288 - 579, +3)
4. Baylor (289-292 - 581, +5)
5T. California (294-293 - 587, +11)
5T. SMU (293-294 - 587, +11)
7. Purdue (299-290 - 589, +13)
8T. New Mexico (294-296 - 590, +14)
8T. Colorado State (297-293 - 590, +14)
10. Tulsa (294-297 - 591, +15)
11. Texas Tech (294-298 - 592, +16)
12. Texas El Paso (302-308 - 610, +34)
13. Wyoming (306-305 - 611, +35)
14. Arizona `B' (310-304 - 614, +38)

TOURNAMENT LEADERS (after 1 of 2 days/2 of 3 rounds/36 of 54 holes)
1T. Johan de Beer (TCU) 68-71 - 139 (-5)
1T. Joakim Mikkelsen (Baylor) 73-67 - 140 (-5)

CAL INDIVIDUAL RESULTS (after 1 of 2 days/2 of 3 rounds/36 of 54 holes)
13. Stephen Hale 73-72 - 145 (+1)
14T. Chad Vivolo 71-75 - 146 (+2)
33T. Michael Weaver 76-73 - 149 (+5)
39T. Eric Mina 74-76 - 150 (+6)
45T. Max Homa 78-73 - 151 (+7)