The UC Davis women’s golf team went to the Big West Conference Championships and placed as expected. First. Still, the degree of their dominance was what was truly impressive.
The Aggies went down to Cal Poly and played lights-out at the San Luis Obispo Country Club.
Senior Demi Runas, who is ranked 13th nationally, shot a one-under 218 for first place in the Big West tournament. She was two strokes ahead of the second-place finisher, who happened to be her freshman teammate Andrea Wong. Sophomore Beverly Vatananugulkit, who won the tournament last year, shot a 223 for a third-place finish and senior Amy Simanton placed fourth, one stroke behind Vatananugulkit.
Freshman Betty Chen rounded out the Aggies’ top four finishers with a solid 230 score that placed her in a tie for 12th place.
A more extensive recap can be found online at theaggie.org.
The UC Davis men’s golf team will now enter its respective conference tournament at The Country Club at Soboba Springs in San Jacinto, Calif.
The Aggies are coming off a second-place finish at the Winchester Classic in Meadow Vista, Calif. They shot an overall 873, five strokes behind first-place Cal State Fullerton.
UC Davis took a large lead with impressive 289 postings on the first two days into the last day, at which point they shot a 295 to drop them down into second.
Senior Tyler Raber led the Aggies with a 216 sixth-place finish, followed up by eighth-place finishes from junior Jonny Baxter and freshman Ben Corfee with equal 218 scores.
The Aggies will have quite a task ahead of them if they are to snag their third-straight conference title. Last year, the Aggies stunned the golfing world in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year, and took the Big West Championships.
UC Davis was led by junior Matt Seramin and sophomore Mike Brockington, who placed fourth and sixth, respectively, at the La Quinta Mountain Resort in La Quinta, Calif.
The Aggies stormed ahead and took a one-stroke victory to shock the Big West. Now that these players have more experience, the addition of Raber will do nothing but good for them.
UC Davis will not necessarily enter the tournament as favorites, but they do have a good chance of piecing together a first-place performance.
MATTHEW YUEN can be reached at sports@theaggie.org.
