Event: Mauna Lani Invitational Collegiate Golf Tournament
Where: Mauna Lani Golf Course – Kohala Coast, Hawaii
When: Wednesday through Friday, all day
Who to watch: Sophomore Tyler Raber was the Big West Conference Golfer of the Month when the Aggies last took the course in November.
Raber shot a school-record 199 over 54 holes at the Stockton Sports Commission Invitational in UC Davis’ final tournament of the fall, beating the previous record by five strokes.
He’ll look to improve on his 50th-place showing at the Mauna Lani Invitational from last season.
Did you know? While the Aggies have not played since November, they expect a strong showing this week in Hawaii.
The golfers have been keeping themselves in playing shape by competing in tournaments as individuals as well as practicing daily.
Preview: UC Davis faces some stiff competition in its upcoming tournament in Hawaii.
The defending Big West champs will take the course against eight teams ranked in the top 10 and 14 in the top 25, including No. 1 Oklahoma State and No. 2 Stanford.
In addition, the event also includes the No. 1 and No. 2 individual golfers – Oklahoma State’s Peter Uihlein and Diego Velasquez of Oregon State – in the country and 13 of the nation’s top 20.
The Mauna Lani Invitational is one of Golf Week’s “5 Marquee Spring Events.” Despite the high level of competition at the event, coach Cy Williams said his team is focused only on itself.
“We can’t control the other teams,” Williams said. “We just need to be prepared and compete as well as we can.”
Williams also stressed consistency as a key part of the team’s goals for this week.
The Aggies are hoping that a strong tournament this week will set the tone for the second half of the season. Last year, the Aggies took home a 12th-place finish at Kohala Coast, finishing 41 strokes behind tournament-winner USC but 18 strokes ahead of host Hawaii Hilo.
Prior to the break in November, UC Davis had finished in the top three in three of its previous five tournaments, including a first-place finish in Stockton. The Aggies look to keep their strong season going this week.
– Trevor Cramer
