BERKELEY – The Cal men's golf team will open the 2023 spring season at the Arizona Thunderbirds Intercollegiate on Jan. 30-31 in Tucson, Arizona. The two-day, 54-hole tournament is hosted by No. 22 (Golfstat) Arizona at Tucson Country Club.
 
The Golden Bears played in four tournaments throughout their 2022 fall slate and secured their first tournament victory in more than three years when they won the Alister Mackenzie Invitational by 13 strokes on Oct. 10-11 in Sonoma. They'll look to build off of the productive fall season in Tucson against a talented 15-team field that features No. 11 Texas A&M and the 22nd-ranked Wildcats. Cal enters the spring season ranked 69th by Golfweek and 72nd by Golfstat.
 
Arizona is the five-time defending tournament champion. Cal is a two-time team champion at the Arizona Intercollegiate, winning in 2010 and 2014. Two Bears shared individual medalist honors in back-to-back years at the tournament as well; Joël Stalter and Michael Kim tied atop the individual leaderboard in 2013 before Stalter was named co-champion again along with Brandon Hagy in 2014.
 
TOURNAMENT INFO

• Dates: Jan. 30-31, 2023
• Format: 36-18 (Monday-Tuesday / 7 a.m. PST shotgun start)
• Location: Tucson Country Club (Tucson, Arizona)
• Course Info: Par 72, 7,072 Yards
• Live Scoring: Golfstat.com

 
OFF THE TEE
1. Jeewon Park
2. Sampson Zheng
3. Aaron Du
4. Costas Panay
5. Daniel Heo
Ind. Nathan Wang
 
THE FIELD (15)
Arizona (host), Cal, Cal Poly, Central Michigan, Iowa State, Long Beach State, New Mexico, New Mexico State, Seattle U, Saint Mary's, SMU, Santa Clara, Texas A&M, West Virginia
 
GOLDEN BEAR LINEUP
1 – Jeewon Park (Jr., Busan, South Korea)
2022-23: 73.75 stroke average ... 4 events & 12 rounds played in the fall ... Best finish of the 2022 fall slate was a tie for 8th as an individual (74-67-70 - 211, -5) at the Alister Mackenzie Invitational (Oct. 10-11) ... Second-round 67 at the Mackenzie was a collegiate low ... Shot 22+ (79-85-74 - 238) to tie for 54th at the Blessings Collegiate Invitational (Oct. 3-5) ... Tied for 37th with a 2-over 212 (70-72-70) at the Fighting Irish Classic (Sept. 4-5) in his Cal debut ... Lost 3&2 alongside Adora Liu as the No. 6 pairing in the Big Match vs. Stanford (Sept. 29) ... Career: Arizona State transfer who arrived in Berkeley after two seasons played with the Sun Devils ... Played in two stroke-play events in 2021-22 with the Sun Devils, including at the Dove Mountain Intercollegiate where he tied for fourth (82-70-70 – 222, +6) … Three-time Korean National Team player in 2014, '16 and '17.
 
2 – Sampson Zheng (Jr., Nagoya, Japan)
2022-23: Team-leading 70.33 stroke average in nine rounds played in 2022-23 season ... Tied his collegiate-low score of 66 in the third round of the Alister Mackenze Invitational to finish in sole possession of 2nd place (68-72-66 - 206, -10) & help Cal run away with the team title ... Carded a 4-under 206 (68-70-68) & tied for 13th at Fighting Irish Classic (Sept. 4-5) ... Earned another top-20 finish at Blessings Collegiate Invitational (Oct. 3-5), tying for 18th with a 5-over-par 221 (75-73-73) ... Birdied on the 18th hole to secure a 1-up victory with Jieming Yang at Big Match vs. Stanford (Sept. 29) ... Career: 2021-22 All-Pac-12 honorable mention ... Averaged 71.84 strokes per round as a sophomore in 2021-22 … Posted five top-25 finishes in 2021-22, including a career-best third-place showing at The Goodwin (66-66-67–199, -11) … Tied for 10th at 2022 Pac-12 Championship (71-73-73-69 – 286, +2).
 
3 – Aaron Du (Jr., Beijing, China)
2022-23: 72.88 stroke average in nine rounds played during the 2022-23 season ... Tied for 22nd at Blessings Collegiate Invitational (Oct. 3-5) bouncing back in rounds 2-3 for a 6-over-par 222 (79-70-73) ... Tied for 37th (+2, 212) at FIghting Irish Classic (Sept. 3-5) ... Handily won his match in the Big Match vs. Stanford (2&1) … Career: Two-time All-Pac-12 Team honorable mention (2021, '22) ...  Led Cal with a season scoring average of 71.76 in 2021-22 … Won the 2022 John A. Burns Intercollegiate in Lihue, Hawaii for his first collegiate title (66-67-70 – 203, -13) … Posted five consecutive rounds (and 7 of 9) in the 60s in 2021-22 … Tied for 10th at the 2022 Pac-12 Championship (72-71-70-73 - 286, +2) … Impressed as a rookie in 2020-21, earning a spot on the Pac-12 All-Newcomer Team while averaging 73.32 strokes per round.
 
4 – Costas Panay (R-Jr., Redmond, Washington)
2022-23: Averaging 73.33 strokes in six rounds played in 2022-23 ... Playing in his second third stroke-play tournament of the 2022-23 season ... Used a third-round 68 to tie for 27th (219, +3) as an individual at the Alister Mackenzie Invitational (Oct. 10-11) ... Was a part of Cal's lineup at the season-opening FIghting Irish Classic (Sept. 4-5) where he tied for 65th (221, +11) ... Career: Lone four-year member of the Cal men's golf roster ... Played in six stroke-play events and 18 total rounds last year and averaged 73.50 strokes per round … Best 54-hole score was a five-over 205 (70-65-70) at the Maui Jim Intercollegiate in fall 2021.
 
5 – Daniel Heo (Fr., Cypress, California)
2022-23: Freshman member of Cal's 2022-23 squad who made his collegiate stroke-play debut at the Alister Mackenzie Invitational (Oct. 10-11) ... Tied for 27th as an individual at the Mackenzie (75-73-71 - 219, +3) ... Graduated from Cypress High School (Cypress, CA) in spring 2022 ... Won the individual title at 2022 CIF/SCGA SoCal Boys High School Championship ... Helped the Centurions capture the 2022 Empire League title and finish second in the CIF-SS Division 3 team finals ... Named 2022 Orange County Register's 2022 Boys Golfer of the Year.
 
STAY POSTED
For further coverage of Cal men's golf, follow the Bears on Twitter (@CalMensGolf), Instagram (@CalMensGolf) and Facebook (/CalMensGolf).