CABO SAN LUCAS, Mexico – After the first 18 holes of the Cabo Collegiate, California men's golf is in ninth place with a combined 282 (-2) strokes. Leading the way is redshirt freshman Tony Chen who is tied for seventh after tying his career-low of 68 (-3) strokes.
 
After opening the first round with a bogey, Chen quickly made up for it with three birdies over his next four holes. After seven-consecutive pars, he managed two more birdies to bring his score down to -3. With a 2.80 stroke average over five par-3 holes, Chen finished -1 overall on such holes which is tied for the second-lowest score in the field thus far. Tied for seventh, he is three strokes back of Brian Stark who leads the pack from Oklahoma State.
 
Two strokes behind Chen is freshman Simon Kwon. With 70 (-1) strokes he is tied for 29th after producing six birdies and five bogeys. All three Bears behind Kwon (sophomores Aaron Du, Sampson Zheng and redshirt freshman Ethan Chung) carded a 72 (+1) in Sunday's opening round. Chung was trending two under par under par until hole five gave him trouble which he double bogeyed. In his fifth-to-last frame, the Eastvale, Calif. native returned to -1 with a birdie on the par-4, but back-to-back bogeys on his last two holes forced him back to +1.
 
As a team, Cal produced the second best score on par 4s in the first round, shooting a combined -2 with a 3.96 stroke average. The Bears are just one stroke behind Texas Tech, Vanderbilt and Stanford who all finished Sunday's round with 281 strokes. Oklahoma State currently leads all teams with 271 (-13) combined strokes.
 
Cal will return to action Monday morning for round two of the Cabo Collegiate. A shotgun start will begin at 7am PT. The Bears will be paired with players from Baylor, Arizona and Alabama.
 
For complete coverage of Cal men's golf this season, follow the Bears on Twitter (@CalMensGolf) and Instagram (@calmensgolf).