UC Irvine Set to Compete in 75th Western Intercollegiate

Monday, April 11

Pasatiempo Golf Club - Santa Cruz, Calif.

8:54 AM

UC Irvine

Western Intercollegiate

UC Irvine Set to Compete in 75th Western Intercollegiate

April 09, 2022 | Men's Golf

at 75th Western Intercollegiate
Dates: April 11-13 (Monday-Wednesday)
Location: Pasatiempo Golf Club - Santa Cruz, Calif.
TV: Golf Channel
Live Scoring // Tournament Homepage

Notes (PDF)

IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine men's golf team is headed to Santa Cruz, California, for the prestigious 75th Western Intercollegiate Presented by Topgolf and Titleist, April 11-13.

Golf Channel will provide live coverage of the Western Intercollegiate from 4-7 p.m. (PT) on Monday and Tuesday, and 1-4 p.m. (PT) on Wednesday.

TOURNAMENT INFO
The three-day tournament will be held at the par-70, 6,615-yard course at the renowned Pasatiempo Golf Club. One round is scheduled for each day with tee times starting at 8:54 a.m. on Monday and Tuesday, and 8 a.m. on Wednesday. The Anteaters are part of a loaded 14-team field that features nine programs in the top-75 of the Golfstat rankings. Highlighting the group are four top-15 teams in No. 6 Washington, No. 8 Pepperdine, No. 9 Texas and No. 12 Stanford. Also in the tournament are No. 30 Arizona, No. 38 Oregon, No. 52 BYU, No. 57 San Diego State, No. 71 Colorado State, Cal, Hawai'i, USC and host San José State.

Darien Zhao, Kolbe Irei, Nathan Irwin, Henry Fitzhugh, Johnny Bai and Matt Gunson make up UCI's 6-count-5 lineup.

FAMILIAR GROUND
UC Irvine has competed in the Western Intercollegiate 20 times under 24th-year head coach Paul Smolinski. Since Smolinski's first season at the helm in 1998-99, the Anteaters have a high team finish of second (2003, 2008), and a high individual finish of third by Pete Fernandez in 2014. UCI has been a part of each of the last 11 tournaments at Pasatiempo Golf Club.

LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine had a strong finish to tie for 11th at the Wyoming Cowboy Classic, April 4-5. The Anteaters saw an improvement in each round, closing out the tournament with a 5-count-4 total of 857 (292-283-282). They climbed into the top half of the standings in a 25-team field that boasted seven top-75 programs. UCI tied with No. 19 Kansas, while coming in ahead of 68th-ranked TCU. Darien Zhao led the 'Eaters with his fourth top-20 showing of the season as he carded a collegiate-best 6-under 210 (73-67-70) to tie for 19th. His second round 67 (-5) was the best of his young Anteater career. Henry Fitzhugh also tied for 33rd with a personal collegiate-best 1-under 215 (71-72-72), while Johnny Bai made the team's biggest leap in the standings, jumping 28 spots into a tie for 40th at even-par 216 (75-72-69). Nathan Irwin (73-78-71) and Kolbe Irei (78-72-72) tied for 89th.

NEWS & NOTES
• Sophomore Darien Zhao leads UCI with four top-20 finishes and a 72.83 scoring average.
• He tied for 2nd at the OC Collegiate Classic (219) and came in fourth at the UC San Diego Invitational (212).
• Zhao has finished below par in four of his last six rounds, including a career-best 67 at the Cowboy Classic.
• Kolbe Irei earned his first collegiate victory in February, winning the individual title at the OC Collegiate Classic.
• Irei came in at even-par 216 with a career-low 68 in the second round.
• The sophomore ranks second on the squad with a 73.50 average.
• Senior Nathan Irwin had a top-20 showing at the Nick Watney Invitational (T19th) and UCSD Invitational (T20th).
• Irwin, who has three sub-70 rounds including a collegiate-best 68, is third on the team with a 73.67 average.
• UCI carded its best 18-hole score of the year with a 277 in the second round of the Visit Stockton Invitational.
• In that round, Zhao, Irwin and Irei all registered a 2-under 69.
• Sophomore Henry Fitzhugh has played in every tournament since his arrival at UC Irvine in 2020.

UP NEXT
UC Irvine will head to La Quinta, California, for the Big West Championships, May 1-3.