SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. --- UC Irvine earned the title of the 2015 Big West Conference Men's Golf Championship that concluded Tuesday at the San Luis Obispo Country Club.
Coach Paul Smolinski's Anteaters tied for the low round of the day at 285 to finish with a 54-hole total of 860, holding off UC Davis by one shot (861) with UC Riverside finishing third at 871.
UCI, which rallied from two shots down entering the final round, won its first conference title since 2010 and the seventh in program history.
All five Anteater players finished in the top 20, led by senior Pete Fernandez, who placed second at 213 after a final round of 72.
Junior Jacob Schulze shot a 2-under 68 Tuesday to finish third with a three-round score of 214.
Sophomore Bryan Shin, with a 72 in the final round, placed 12th at 219, freshman David Kim (75) was 15th at 220 and freshman Jonathan Young (73) finished 20th at 222.
Justin De Los Santos of Cal Poly was medalist at 212 after a 69 on Tuesday.
"It was super-exciting coming down the stretch and every shot meant a great deal," Smolinski said. "All the guys were sitting around the 18th green as Pete (Fernandez) had to two-putt from 40 feet and downhill to save par and preserve the win. He hit a great lag putt to about 2 ½ feet and made a tough putt from there for par.
"All of our guys contributed at some point and Jake's (Schulze) round was huge," Smolinski added.
With the win, the 'Eaters earn an automatic berth into the NCAA Regionals, which will be played at six sites across the nation May 14-16. UCI will learn its destination during the NCAA selection show that will be carried live on the Golf Channel Monday at 7:00 a.m. (PT).
The NCAA Championship is at the Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla., May 29-June 3.
_________________________________________________________
For UC Irvine Athletics ticket information, please call (949) 824-5000 or e-mail athletics.tickets@uci.edu. For more information click here.
For information on how you can help support UC Irvine Athletics, please call (949) 824-6933 or e-mail aaf@uci.edu. For additional information, click here.
You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter and by downloading the UCI Front Row app, available free to all Anteater fans through iTunes and Google Play, to view schedules, results, and up-to-the-minute news.
