The UCSB men’s golf team finished in eighth place at the Braveheart Classic off strong scores from juniors Tyler Weir and Andrew Gunson. Weir shot two strokes over par over three rounds to finish at 218. His score tied for ninth place overall, his highest finish of the spring season. Weir credits the success to some new techniques he has implemented into his game.

“I’ve been going through some swing changes and everything came together [in the tournament],” Weir said.

Gunson finished well despite having a rough start. The Scotland native forgot his putter at home and had to use a brand new one in the tournament, throwing him off at the start as he shot eight strokes over par in the first round. However, knowing he was at the Braveheart Classic, his Scottish roots kicked in and he shot three under par in the second round. He eventually finished the tournament at 225 strokes for nine over par, good enough for 22nd place. Gunson felt indifferent with his results.

“It could have been better, but I’m not that disappointed,” he said.

Freshman phenom Glen Scher remained one of UCSB’s most valuable contributors as he finished with the third best score among the Gauchos. Scher took 47th place shooting 232 strokes over three rounds.

Sophomore Kei Kita saw his first action all year in the tournament and shot 18 over par for 234 strokes. Kita’s score saw him finish in 52nd place.

Junior Scott Lewis, a former U.S. Open qualifier, rounded out the Gauchos with 26 over par for 77th place overall.

Santa Barbara’s combined score was 904 strokes, giving them eighth place overall.

“We’re not happy, but we will be as long as we keep improving after this slump,” Gunson said.

Santa Barbara has a few weeks off to prepare for the next tournament. But with only two more tournaments left until the Big West Tournament, the Gauchos will need some more positive results to boost the team’s confidence.