SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The UC Santa Barbara Golf team hosted their only home tournament of the season at the gorgeous Sandpiper Golf Club on Monday and Tuesday, April 8 and 9. Over the course of the two days, the Gauchos played three rounds against some top-ranked teams. By the end of the tournament, UC Santa Barbara finished in eighth out of 13 teams.
"From a team perspective, it's fair to say we are all pretty disappointed with our performance," said Head Coach
Chris Massoletti. "You always want to play well, especially at home in front of friends and family, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. Individually, Blake played great. He was steady all three rounds which led him into his third consecutive Top 8 finish. We have no time to dwell on our team performance. We have to shake it off and get ready to play up in Davis starting on Friday."
The weather was pristine during the first round of competition as the Gauchos played against top teams like No. 45 Loyola Marymount and No. 59 Utah. UC Santa Barbara started off strong as
Brian Arnold contributed a 69, going a stroke under par on five different holes. Arnold's performance along with
Killian McGinley and
Blake McGovern each shooting par allowed the Gauchos to end the first round in sixth place just one stroke ahead of the Lions of LMU.
They went right into the second round from there, where the team managed to stay in sixth place despite the wind picking up throughout the afternoon. This time, McGovern topped the lineup for the Gauchos as he shot the team's low round of 70. Arnold also stayed on pace as he stayed below par with a 71 in this round.
The Blue and Gold headed into the final round on Tuesday with only one Gaucho finding success, and that was McGovern. The reigning Big West Golfer of the Month continued to improve on his scores throughout the tournament as he wrapped up his final Gaucho Invitational with a 68, shooting par or better on every hole throughout the day. This put him at six-under for the tournament and tied for eighth place.
All of the Gauchos competed in this tournament as they entered two teams for competition. For UC Santa Barbara's second team,
Julian Maxwell led the way as he contributed three rounds of 73 to finish in 34th.
The University of Nevada Wolfpack came out as the champions of the Gaucho Invitational. As a team, they went 31-under for all three rounds. The Wolfpack also had the individual champion as well in Enrique Dimayuga. He went 12-under for the entire tournament, earning his lowest score of 66 in the second round.
UC Santa Barbara has a really quick turnaround as they make their way north to Davis, California for their final tournament of the regular season at the El Macero Classic. This tournament hosted by UC Davis will take place from Friday, April 12, through Sunday, April 14.
