Feb. 20, 2013
Kahuku, Hawai'i - No. 1 Cal has a three-shot lead over second place and No. 4 New Mexico, while Joël Stalter is the individual leader following Wednesday's first 18 holes of action at the John A. Burns Intercollegiate being hosted by Hawai'i. The Golden Bears fired a solid four-under par 284 at the Arnold Palmer Course at Turtle Bay Report, while New Mexico was the only other team in the red with a one-under par 287. Stalter's five-under par 67 was one stroke ahead of New Mexico's Gavin Green.
"This was a very good start under tough conditions," head coach Steve Desimone said. "It was as windy as I've seen it over here the last three years, some pretty rugged stuff. All in all we played some really good golf, especially Joël. He did a lot of things right, hit a lot of good shots and made a lot of good putts."
"The conditions were tough today with a lot of wind, but I played really solid and managed to score very well," Stalter said. "I'm happy to help the team today, and I think we are all ready to start a new winning streak after our third-place finish at the Arizona Intercollegiate. There's lots of golf left, but we are all playing well. I'm looking forward to the next two rounds and hopefully we will come back home with the trophy."
Cal has done just that each of the last two seasons as the event's two-time defending champion.
The Bears have also won 11 of their last 20 tournaments overall dating back to the beginning of the 2011-12 campaign and have finished in the top five in all 20. Cal remains one victory away from equaling the school record of six tournament wins set last season.
Stalter is joined by a pair of other Bears in the top 10 after the first round as Max Homa shot a one-under par 71 and is tied for sixth, while Michael Weaver had an even-par 72. James Yoon shot a six-over par 78 in his collegiate debut.
Stalter had six birdies and one bogey during his round, splitting his birdies between the front (3, 5, 8) and back (12, 16, 18) nines. He birdied three of the course's four par-fives (3, 8, 18), a pair of par-fours (5, 12) and a par-three (8). His lone birdie came on the par-four 10th.
Two of Homa's three birdies came in back-to-back fashion on the par-four seventh and par-three eighth holes. He picked up another birdie on the par-five 12th to get to three-under before dropping back to one-under with bogeys on a pair of par-threes (13, 15).
Weaver's even-par round included 14 pars to go along with two birdies on par-fives (3, 18) and two bogeys, one on the par-three fourth and another on the par-five 12th.
Kim's played the front nine in an even-par 36 with a pair of birdies on the par-four second and par-five ninth holes as well as a two bogeys on the par-four sixth and par-three eighth. But a double bogey on the par-four 10th knocked him back to two-over par. He managed his third and final birdie on the par-five 12th but bogeyed the par-three 15th to give the stroke back.
Yoon had the team's lone eagle of the day on the par-five 12th and played the four par-fives four-under par, adding birdies on the ninth and 18th. He also made par on each of the course's par-three holes but was a combined 10-over par on the 10 par-four holes, with a triple bogey on the seventh and seven bogeys (2, 6, 10, 11, 14, 16, 17).
Second-round action begins Thursday with the teams teeing off from the first and 10th holes at 9:30 a.m. PT/7:30 a.m. HT. The third and final round is scheduled for Friday with a shotgun start also beginning at 9:30 a.m. PT/7:30 a.m. HT.
"We've put ourselves in a good spot and overall I like our chances," Desimone said.
John A. Burns Intercollegiate (hosted by Hawai'i)
Kahuku, Hawaii - Arnold Palmer Course at Turtle Bay Resort (par-71, 6,932 yards)
TEAM LEADER BOARD (after 1 of 3 days/1 of 3 rounds/18 of 54 holes)
1. Cal (284, -4)
2. New Mexico (287, -1)
T3. Colorado State (292, +4)
T3. Arizona (292, +4)
T3. Brigham Young (292, +4)
6. Texas A&M (294, +6)
7. Hawai'i-Hilo (296, +8)
T8. UTEP (302, +14)
T8. Hawai'i (302, +14)
10. UNLV (303, +15)
11. Washington State (305, +17)
T12. Nevada (309, +21)
T12. Hawai'i "B" (309, +21)
14. Denver (310, +22)
15. Utah (312, +24)
16. BYU-Hawai'i (319, +31)
PLAYER LEADER BOARD - INDIVIDUAL LEADER (after 1 of 3 days/1 of 3 rounds/18 of 54 holes)
1. Joël Stalter (Cal) 67 (-5)
PLAYER LEADER BOARD - CAL INDIVIDUALS (after 1 of 3 days/1 of 3 rounds/18 of 54 holes)
1. Joël Stalter 67 (-5)
T6. Max Homa 71 (-1)
T10. Michael Weaver 72 (E)
T23. Michael Kim 74 (+2)
T57. James Yoon 78 (+6)
