LA JOLLA, Calif. – The UC Santa Barbara Golf team wrapped up the UC San Diego Invitational at Torrey Pines Golf Course. When they finished the three-day tournament on the north course, the Gauchos found themselves in fourth out of 17 teams.
 
"It was a solid week from the guys," said Head Coach Chris Massoletti. "Blake picked up right where he left off in Vegas and was in contention to win after three solid rounds in some not-so-great conditions. He's really playing some great golf and seeing the fruits of his labor. We also had some big performances from Killian with a Top 10 showing, his best of the year so far after finishing the last two rounds three under par. A few costly mishaps on some scorable holes kept us from really scaring a win. Overall, I saw a lot of great stuff from the guys.
 
"Also, not to be unmentioned, was Will's stellar rounds all three days as an individual. I hope this builds some confidence for him moving forward as he has a lot of fire power."
 
The first day of the tournament had some tough conditions for golfers to navigate with wind speeds up to 30 miles per hour. Even with these conditions, Blake McGovern came out strong as he went even to tie for fifth. He didn't stop there. McGovern went on to shoot par in the second round followed by a team-low 68 in the final round of the tournament, allowing him to go four under par across all three rounds. This led to him finishing in third out of 106 golfers.
 
Also having a strong performance for the Gauchos was Killian McGinley. After going +4 in the opening round due to those gusty winds, he rebounded with scores of 70 and 71 in the final two rounds to tie for seventh, going one over par. Teammate Will Hoff, who competed as an individual, also had a great performance as he tied his teammate for seventh.
 
One of the biggest jumps of the tournament came from Nick Waldock. He was +6 after the first two rounds before shooting a 71 in today's final round. This was good enough to help him jump 16 spots in the standings, finishing the tournament tied for 30th.
 
At the end of the tournament, North Dakota State came out on top as they were the only team to stay under par for all three rounds, ending -7. North Dakota State also had the best golfer of the tournament as Jack Johnson finished first in the tournament, going eight under par.
 
The Gauchos will take this next week to prep as they return to Santa Barbara to host the Gaucho Invitational. Fans can come out to Sandpiper Golf Club on Monday and Tuesday, April 8 and 9, to watch all of the action.