Bears Take Aim At Pac-12 Championship

Friday, April 26

Carefree, AZ

All Day

California

Pac-12 Championship

Eric Lee and the Golden Bears will play for their first Pac-12 Championship title since 2013 this weekend.

Photo by: Catharyn Hayne/KLC Fotos

4/24/2024 9:44 AM | Men's Golf

Live Scoring (Golfstat)Pairings Pac-12 Championship Central

Cal Has 6 Top-3 Finishes Heading Into 72-Hole Championship Tournament

By: Cal Athletics

BERKELEY – The 21st-ranked California men's golf team begins its quest for a Pac-12 Championship with 36 holes on Friday in the first of three consecutive days at Desert Forest Golf Club in Carefree, Arizona. The Pac-12 field – which features seven top-30 squads – will play 18 holes on both Saturday and Sunday before a champion is crowned.

Split tee times will be utilized beginning at 6:30 a.m. and noon PT for Friday's 36 holes, 9 a.m. for Saturday's third round, and 7:30 a.m. for Sunday's final round. Daily 30-minute highlight shows will air on Pac-12 Network at 10 a.m. PT the morning following each day of competition.

TOURNAMENT INFO

Dates: April 26-28, 2024
Format: 72 holes (36-18-18, Friday-Sunday); 6-count-5
Location: Carefree, Arizona | Desert Forest Golf Club
Course Info: Par 71 | 7,203 Yards
Host: Arizona State
Live Scoring: Golfstat
Pairings: Golfstat

THE FIELD (12)
#3 Arizona State, #8 Arizona, #10 Washington, #21 Cal, #24 Oregon, #29 Stanford, #30 UCLA, #53 Utah, #58 Oregon State, #61 Washington State, #66 Colorado, #104 USC

OFF THE TEE
1. Sampson Zheng
2. Eric Lee
3. Ethan Fang
4. Aaron Du
5. Jeewon Park
6. Nathan Wang

CHIP SHOTS

Cal owns a 109-40-3 record with two tournament victories, six top-3 finishes and seven top-5 finishes in 10 stroke-play events this season. The two wins came back-to-back in October at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational and the Cal Poly Invitational. The Bears also defeated Stanford in the annual Big Match in September.
Cal's No. 21 ranking is the fourth-best in the Pac-12 Championship field, trailing only No. 3 Arizona State, No. 8 Arizona and No. 10 Washington.
The Bears have held a national ranking for the entire spring season, ranking as high as No. 17.
Cal most recently finished third in the prestigious Western Intercollegiate, shooting the tournament's low 18-hole score of 344 in the final round to climb five spots.
Sampson Zheng will lead the charge for Cal, ranking 41st nationally (Clippd) and 19th in PGA TOUR University. The senior has four top-10 finishes this season, including three in a row since early March; 10th at the Cabo Collegiate, sixth at The Goodwin and fourth at the Western Intercollegiate.
Four of Cal's six golfers have previously competed at the Pac-12 Championship, highlighted by Zheng and Aaron Du. Zheng has finished 10th at Pac-12s each of the past two seasons, while Du has finished inside the top 15 three times, placing seventh (2021), 10th (2022) and 15th (2023).
Freshmen Eric Lee and Ethan Fang have impressed all season, playing in nine and 10 stroke-play events, respectively. Lee won his collegiate debut at the Marquette Intercollegiate and has placed inside the top 15 in three other tournaments – most recently 14th at the Western – while Fang has five top-15 finishes, including second place at the Pauma Valley Invitational.
Nathan Wang closed the fall season with two consecutive top-10 finishes at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational and Cal Poly Invitational.
The Bears went back-to-back in 2012 and 2013 for the only Pac-12 team titles in program history and have placed among the top three on three different occasions since then, most recently in 2019.
Four Cal golfers – Charlie Wi (1995), Eric Mina (2010), Max Homa (2013) and Collin Morikawa (2019) – have been crowned as the Pac-12 individual medalist.

STAY POSTED
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