Event: Big West Conference Championships
Where: Mission Viejo Country Club – Mission Viejo, Calif.
When: Monday and Tuesday, all day
Who to Watch: Freshman Matt Hansen will be key if the Aggies want to make a run at a conference title.
The Los Osos, Calif. native was only three strokes behind the winner of the Aggies’ last event, the PING Cougar Classic.
Did You Know? The winner of the conference championship event gets an automatic bid into the NCAA regional event.
Preview: The postseason has arrived. It’s the moment of opportunity and the moment of trophies.
The UC Davis men’s golf team has done extremely well this season, recording a winning record of 95-65-2. Many of those wins came from competition against powerhouse schools like California, Stanford and Washington.
The Aggies will attempt to utilize their experience against top-notch programs at the Big West Conference Championships this week. Traveling with UC Davis will be senior Austin Graham, junior Tyler Raber, sophomore Andrew Haggen and freshmen Matt Hansen and Daniel Covrig. Coach Cy Williams is confident in his teams’ ability.
“Every match is critical now,” Williams said. “Our results this year showed that we can beat a lot of tough teams.”
This event is seen as a stepping stone to the NCAA regional event. The winner of the conference championship gets an automatic bid into the regional event May 19.
“Our performance this season has to give us great confidence going forward,” Williams said.
Besides winning the event, Williams added that the team’s goals for the event, like all matches, is to compete as hard as it can.
UC Davis enters the Big West Championships hot after a strong performance at the PING Cougar Classic in Provo, Utah, where the Aggies finished fourth out of 18.
UC Davis will face a tough field, however, with the likes of nationally ranked Pacific. The Aggies, though, lead the pack, coming in at No. 56 nationally, according to Golfweek.
Williams is fairly confident about UC Davis’ chances.
“It is all about us,” he said. “We play well and we will win. Period.”
– Ron Hooper
