The UCSB men’s golf team placed 12th out of 14 teams on Tuesday at the North Ranch Intercollegiate Tournament in Westlake Village. Overall the team shot 913, 73 over par. San Diego State took first place shooting 864, only 24 over par.

Santa Barbara began the year with a ninth place finish out of 14 at the Wolf Pack Classic on Oct. 3 and 4 but garnered a share of fourth place out of 13 at the Bill Cullum Invitational on Oct. 17 and 18. Santa Barbara slipped to a seventh place finish out of 10 at the Folio Invitational before entering this week’s tournament.

Senior Russell Boring was the Gauchos’ leader at North Ranch. Shooting for 223, Boring tied for 20th overall. The former Big West golfer of the month for October followed a slow start with the best second round score on the day. After a 78 in round one he shot for a leading 68, three shots better than his next closest competitor.

The rest of the Gauchos saw steep declines in their second round performances. Santa Barbara’s second leading golfer, senior Kei Kita, 39th overall, followed a solid 70 in the first round with an 85 in round two. Junior Jordan Epstein, 45th overall, also found himself in a similar slide. After shooting a 71 in the first round he shot an 80 in round two. Senior Tyler Sterk and sophomore Paul Otte, 52nd and 56th respectively, shot 80s in the first round and dropped to 82s in the second.

In the final round, Boring shot a 77 and Kita dropped back down to 76. Sterk had the best third round of play with a 74 followed by Otte’s 75. Epstein saw his score rise again to an 82 in the final round.

Print