UC Davis hadn’t competed as a team in almost three months.
The long break showed as the Aggies finished in the bottom half of the field at the Mauna Lani Invitational on Friday.
“It was disappointing because we know we’re capable of competing with anyone, and we didn’t compete this week,” said coach Cy Williams. “In a field like this we need everyone to be playing at their best and we didn’t have that.”
UC Davis took home a 16th place finish out of the field of 22. As a team, the Aggies shot a score of 904 over the 54-hole tournament, placing them 38 strokes behind first-place No. 2 Stanford.
The first two days of the tournament featured heavy winds, something UC Davis had trouble with. The Aggies shot a 306 on each of the days. The weather improved on the final day as did the Aggies. They shot a 292, improving their score by 14 strokes.
In a field that featured some of the best golfers in the country, it was Texas’ Bobby Hudson, the No. 218 in the nation, who finished in first place, at 7-under par. Hudson finished one stroke ahead of No. 11 Brooks Koepka of Florida State.
UC Davis’ leading player of the tournament was freshman Andrew Haggan who was 5-over par during the three-day tournament. He finished tied with No. 2 Diego Velasquez of Oregon State and nine other players for 29th place. Haggan showed consistency over the course of the tournament, shooting no higher than 3-over par on any day.
“He was really able to find success in the first two days of the tournament,” Williams said. “He dealt with the wind pretty well. Hopefully he’s beginning to see himself as one of the best golfers on the team, not just as a starter or a fifth man.”
Austin Graham shot a 1-under on Friday, improving his overall score to 11-over. Graham was in 74th place entering play on Friday and was able to improve to 54th place by tournament’s end.
Tim Honeycutt followed a tough Thursday round of 81 with an impressive score of 69 on Friday. He shot the best round by any Aggie in the tournament and was one of only 13 golfers to shoot under 70 on Friday. The round allowed Honeycutt to move from 95th place to a tie for 63rd at the close of the tournament.
Four of UC Davis’ five golfers finished ahead of No. 1 Peter Uihlein of Oklahoma State who ended the tournament tied for 85th, with an 18-over par.
TREVOR CRAMER can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.
