SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - Through 18 holes, the UC Irvine men's golf team is tied for eighth in a loaded field at the 76th Western Intercollegiate Presented by Titleist.
 
The Anteaters combined for a 6-count-5 total of 354 (+4) in Monday's first round at Pasatiempo Golf Club. They are tied with USC and host San José State, while coming in ahead of No. 17 Arizona, No. 27 San Diego State and No. 32 Washington.
 
No. 50 Cal had the best round of the day at 16-under and holds a one-stroke lead over No. 22 Oregon. Top-10 teams Stanford (-11) and Pepperdine (-5) also finished below par.
 
Cal's Aaron Du topped the individual leaderboard with a 7-under 63.
 
Junior Darien Zhao leads the 'Eaters in a tie for ninth after carding a season-best 67 in the opening round. Zhao had five birdies and an eagle on the par-5, 502-yard ninth hole. It was his sixth sub-70 round of the year, while he matched his collegiate best 18-hole score from the 2021-22 campaign.
 
Freshmen Jin Nakao and Andy Zou are also tied for 30th. Nakao made the turn at 1-over but had three of his five birdies on the back nine, including on the 17th and 18th, to get to even-par 70. Zou also finished with two birdies and an eagle on the par-5, 527-yard 13th hole.
 
Sophomore Johnny Bai carded a 72 (+2) to tie for 52nd, while freshman Rei Harashima (75) and sophomore transfer Joshua Lane (77) rounded out UCI's 6-count-5 lineup. Lane is making both his Anteater and NCAA Division I debut.
 
UC Irvine returns to Pasatiempo Golf Club Tuesday for the second round of the 76th Western Intercollegiate with tee times starting at 8:46 a.m. GOLF Channel will provide live coverage from 4-7 p.m. (PDT).