The UCSB men’s golf team completed a 288 score in the final round of the 2001 Big West Men’s Golf Conference Tournament, the strongest score of any conference team in the final round of the tournament that ran from April 30 to May 1 at El Dorado Hills, Calif.

By swinging the clubs so well in the final round of the championships, the Gauchos were able to pull into a second-place tie with the University of Pacific while Irvine captured the conference crown with an overall low score of 859. The second-place finish was the highest finish since Santa Barbara won the title in 1998.

Senior clubber Jeff Wood had a seven under par for a score of 209 to capture the individual title. The Anteaters’ Jeff Coburn fell one shot short of Wood with a six under par for 210, despite clawing back with a score of 67 in the third round.

Wood was also named Big West Golfer of the Year for his exploits during his senior campaign, culminating in his great performance at Serrano Country Club.

Santa Barbara entered the final round of the conference tournament in third place, five shots behind the Tigers and six shots in the hole against Irvine. UCSB’s 288 was five shots better than UOP, and the team was only five shots off of champion Irvine.

UCSB also received strong games from J.R. Becko, who finished the event in seventh place with an even-par score of 216 including a final round score of 72. Gaucho Christian Helland had a final round score of 69, only two strokes worse than the best score of the round from Coburn, and finished the event tied for 13th place with a final score of five over par. Scott Linklater scored a 222 for six over par and an 18th-place finish. Andrew Hoffer led the Gauchos from the rear with a score of 223, good enough for a 21st finish.

Santa Barbara was one of only two universities to have all its golfers finish in the top 21. Last week, UCSB finished second in the Ben Hogan Invitational in Provo, Utah. Now the Gauchos can only wait to see if they qualified to the NCAA West Regional after finishing their season strong.

– Eliav Appelbaum

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