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Friday, March 29, 2024

Aggies place third at Stanford over weekend

This past week, senior Tyler Raber scored five-under par, tying for the lowest individual round at the U.S. Intercollegiate golf tournament at Stanford University. His fourth-place overall finish led the UC Davis men’s golf team to place fifth. Host Stanford, ranked 10th, finished 23-under on its own course.

Fortunately, the team saved their best performances for the final day, shooting a one-under 279, the third-best team score on Saturday. This helped them finish seven-over for the 54-hole tournament. With that, UC Davis finished in front of six teams ranked ahead of it.

“Tyler Raber had an amazing tournament,” said Aggie coach Cy Williams. “It was a really strong, national field and he crushed it. We played with USC today head-to-head and they were head of us to start the day, and we outplayed them. That’s a really big accomplishment for our guys, to go toe-to-toe with those guys and be the better team.”

USC led UC Davis by one stroke, but the Aggies made up three shots and finished two ahead of the Trojans. Juniors Matt Seramin and Jonny Baxter added spectacular performances, as well. On the first hole, Seramin posted a 2 for a double-eagle on the par-5, while Baxter was just one-over on his final five holes.

With that said, the Aggies will participate in the ASU Thunderbird Invitational in Arizona this week. This is the first time UC Davis will compete in Arizona for this particular tournament. Last year, UC Davis competed in the Wyoming Cowboy Classic at Talking Stick North Golf Club instead.

Baxter scored a career-best two-under 68, as the men’s golf team shot a two-under 278 on Tuesday, rallying six spots to finish 12th at the tournament. The Aggies finished at seven-over 847 for the 54-hole tournament, tying for Tuesday’s fifth-best score in the 23-team tournament.

Junior Matt Hansen had a sub-70 round for the Aggies, shooting 69 to finish four-over 214 for the week and tied for 55th. In addition, Seramin, who tied for forty-third at two-over 212, shot 70 in the final round.

The Aggies finished just two shots behind 11th place Nevada. They managed to edge Wyoming and Big West Conference member UC Santa Barbara.

Although this will be the team’s first competition in the ASU Thunderbird Invitational, the players are more than ready for the challenge. With years of experience and consistency over the duration of the season, the Aggies ought to be well-prepared for the challenge ahead.

The team has a tough schedule ahead, however, as they will travel to Meadow Vista for the three-day Winchester Classic the subsequent week.

VEENA BANSAL can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.

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