SANTA CRUZ, CA – Cal (353, +3) is in fifth place following the opening round of action Monday at the Western Intercollegiate hosted by San Jose State at Pasatiempo Golf Club. The Golden Bears trail first-round leader Oregon (341, -9) by 12 shots while Stanford (345, -5), USC (346, -4) and Pepperdine (348, -2) are the other teams in the top five.
KK Limbhasut is the top Cal player on the leaderboard in a tie for 13th place after his one-under par 69 on Tuesday. Limbhasut, who started his round on the sixth hole, was able to get to two-under par after his first 13 holes with birdies on a pair of par-fives (9, 13) and one par-three when he drained a 30-foot birdie putt on the 18th hole to go with a bogey on the par-four 12th. Limbhasut would bogey two of his final three holes on the par-three third and fifth but was able to birdie the par-four fourth in between for his final score.
“My round was average,” Limbhasut said. “I didn't have my 'A' game, but I will take an under-par round at Pasatiempo any day.”
Shotaro Ban, who had Cal's highest finish ever in the event with a second-place showing in 2015, is tied for 21st after an opening-round even-par 70. Ban, who also started on the sixth hole, had a birdie on the ninth and made par on each of his other first 14 holes before back-to-back bogeys on the par-four second and par-three third holes before finishing his round with a birdie on the fifth.
"Today I just played pretty conservatively and made a bunch of pars," Ban said. "It was good to be back at Pasatiempo."
Collin Morikawa and Sebastian Crampton are tied for 29th after each fired a round of one-over par 71, while Cameron Shaw (72, +2) is tied for 38th to round out Cal's scoring golfers.
Morikawa, who also started on the sixth hole, had three birdies on the par-four seventh, par-five 13th and second holes as well as 13 pars to help him mitigate a two-hole stretch in which he bogeyed the 11th followed by a triple bogey on the 12th.
“Today was a very steady day other than the poor 12th hole,” Morikawa said. “I wasn't doing anything great but was able to give myself chances to make some birdies. Unfortunately, I didn't convert too many.”
Morikawa appreciated his first round at the Western Intercollegiate.
“It's a great tournament and a great test of golf,” Morikawa said. “Since the beginning of the year, all the guys have been saying how amazing and tough the course is. It was great to finally get the chance to test my game out here. Today was a tough day for most of us, but we're all looking forward to the next two days.”
Both Crampton and Shaw began on the seventh hole.
Crampton was one-under par through his first 13 holes after a bogey on the par-four 10th followed by back-to-back birdies on the par-four 14th and par-three 15th holes. Three consecutive bogeys on the second, third and fourth followed by the team's only birdie of the round on the par-five sixth gave him his final score.
Shaw birdied two of his first three holes on the seventh and ninth before bogeys on four of his next seven holes (10, 12, 14, 17). He would make the team's lone birdie on the par-four first before bogeying the third for his final score.
Jamie Cheatham (73, +3) and Walker Huddy (73, +3) are tied for 50th, with Cheatham playing as part of the lineup and Huddy as an individual.
“We hung tough today and executed our game plan well,” associate head coach Walter Chun said. “At Pasatiempo, you're going to get tough bounces and unfortunate breaks. Our goal was take what Pasatiempo gives us and keep grinding, and we did that today. Hopefully, we'll have more breaks go our way and that we'll be able to take advantage of those good breaks.”
First-round individual leader Aaron Wise of Oregon tied a tournament record with a seven-under par 63 to lead Stanford's Maverick McNealy by three strokes.
Second-round action at the par-70, 6615-yard venue is scheduled for Tuesday before the tournament wraps up with the final 18 holes Wednesday. The first tee times are scheduled both days at 8:45 am PT.
WESTERN INTERCOLLEGIATE (HOSTED BY SAN JOSE STATE)
SANTA CRUZ, CA
PASATIEMPO GOLF CLUB (PAR 70, 6615 YARDS)
TEAM LEADERBOARD (after 1 of 3 days/1 of 3 rounds/18 of 54 holes)
1. Oregon (341, -9)
2. Stanford (345, -5)
3. USC (346, -4)
4. Pepperdine (348, -2)
5. Cal (353, +3)
6. San Diego State (354, +4)
7. UCLA (355, +5)
8. Washington (356, +6)
9. Arizona State (357, +7)
10. UTEP (362, +12)
11. San Jose State (364, +14)
T12. Arizona (370, +20)
T12. UC Irvine (370, +20)
14. Hawai'i (397, +47)
PLAYER LEADERBOARD – INDIVIDUAL LEADER (after 1 of 3 days/1 of 3 rounds/18 of 54 holes)
1. Aaron Wise – Oregon (63, -7)
PLAYER LEADERBOARD – CAL INDIVIDUALS (after 1 of 3 days/1 of 3 rounds/18 of 54 holes)
T13. KK Limbhasut (69, -1)
T21. Shotaro Ban (70, E)
T29. Collin Morikawa (71, +1)
T29. Sebastian Crampton (71, +1)
T38. Cameron Shaw (72, +2)
T50. Jamie Cheatham (73, +3)
*T50. Walker Huddy (73, +3)
*Playing as an individual
