Events: Big West Conference Championships
Where: San Luis Obispo Country Club – San Luis Obispo, Calif.
When: Today and Tuesday; all day
Who to watch: Senior Nate Pistacchio is following up his first-team All-Big West showing last season with another impressive campaign this season.
A native of Fresno, Calif., Pistacchio is currently ranked as the No. 87 player in the country according to Golfweek Magazine. He recently finished tied for the third at the Cowboy Classic, shooting a 4-under 206 to help guide the Aggies to their third straight win at the tournament in convincing style.
Pistacchio is looking for another strong performance at the Big West Championships this year. He finished tied for third last season to lead the Aggies to a second-place finish as a team.
Did you know? UC Davis beat out defending Big West champ UC Irvine for the No. 1 seed in the tournament. The Aggies are looking for their first Big West title.
Preview: UC Davis has been playing some of its best golf of the year as of late. It had three players finish in the top 10 among individuals at the Cowboy Classic. Sophomore Austin Graham took home the tournament title.
The Aggies competed in the U.S. Intercollegiate this past weekend, taking on six top-25 teams, including No. 2 USC and host No. 5 Stanford. UC Davis posted a solid ninth-place finish against the tournament’s 17-team field.
UC Irvine edged out UC Davis by two strokes at the tournament, but that wasn’t enough to push the Anteaters past the Aggies for the top seed in the Big West Championships.
Coach Cy Williams is confident that his team will do what it needs to do to be on top of its game to win the conference title.
“Seeding doesn’t mean anything,” Williams said. “It’s just how you play. San Francisco won the West Coast Conference Tournament last week and they’re ranked in the 100s.“
The Aggies were nine holes away from winning the tournament last year, but weren’t able to pull it out. Williams sees letting things slip away as extra motivation for this year’s tournament.
“We let an opportunity go last year,” Williams said. “I think they’ll be ready to make up for that.“
– Kyle Hyland
