at 76th Western Intercollegiate
Dates: April 10-12 (Monday-Wednesday)
Location: Pasatiempo Golf Club - Santa Cruz, Calif.
Par/Yardage: Par 70, 6,514 yards

IRVINE, Calif. - The UC Irvine men's golf team is headed to Santa Cruz, California, for the prestigious 76th Western Intercollegiate Presented by Titleist, April 10-12.
 
GOLF Channel will provide live coverage of the Western Intercollegiate from 4-7 p.m. (PDT) on Monday and Tuesday, and from 1-4 p.m. (PDT) on Wednesday.
 
The three-day tournament will be contested at the renowned Pasatiempo Golf Club with the par-70 course being played at 6,514 yards. Eighteen holes are scheduled for each day with Round 1 and 2 tee times starting at 8:46 a.m. Tee times for Wednesday's final round are slated for an 8 a.m. start.
 
The Anteaters are part of a loaded 14-team field that features 10 programs in the top-75 of the latest Golfstat rankings released on April 4. Highlighting the group are No. 8 Stanford, No. 9 Pepperdine, No. 17 Arizona, No. 22 Oregon, No. 23 Colorado State and No. 27 San Diego State. Also in the tournament are No. 32 Washington, No. 43 BYU, No. 50 Cal, No. 61 USC, UNLV, Hawai'i and host San José State.
 
UCI's 6-count-5 lineup includes Rei Harashima, Jin Nakao, Darien Zhao, Andy Zou, Johnny Bai and Joshua Lane.
 
FAMILIAR GROUND
UC Irvine has competed in the Western Intercollegiate 21 times under 25th-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 12 tournaments at Pasatiempo Golf Club. In 2022, the 'Eaters tied for 12th.
 
FALL RECAP
UC Irvine came in below par and finished among the top-12 in each of its four fall tournaments. The Anteaters had their best showing at the Visit Stockton Invitational where they tied for second with a season-low 16-under 836 (278-276-282). The 'Eaters recorded six sub-70 rounds at Stockton Golf & Country Club, led by Jin Nakao who bookended the tournament with a 65 and 67.
 
NEWS & NOTES
• Freshman Rei Harashima, who has six sub-70 rounds, owns a team-best 72.07 scoring average.
• Harashima has been the Anteaters' top performer in four of the team's nine tournaments.
• He had his best collegiate showing at The Joust where he took third at 4-under 209 (65-73-71).
• Harashima also placed among the top-20 at the Bill Cullum, Visit Stockton and UCSD Invitationals.
• Junior Darien Zhao isn't far behind Harashima with a 72.12 scoring average.
• Zhao has come in below par 11 times this season, including five sub-70 rounds.
• He is the only 'Eater with multiple top-10 finishes in 2022-23.
• Zhao tied for first before finishing second in a playoff at the Bill Cullum Invitational and tied for eighth at The Joust.
• Freshmen Jin Nakao (72.63) and Andy Zou (73.26) also have sub-74.00 season averages.
• Nakao has two of the Anteaters' best rounds of the year with a 65 and 67.
• Harashima matched Nakao with a season-best 65 in the first round of The Joust on Feb. 20.
• Nakao's and Harashima's 65 is tied for 6th in program history and is UCI's best individual 18-hole score since 2017.
• UC Irvine has a seven-member squad, marking the first time it has fewer than nine on the roster since 2011-12.
 
UP NEXT
UC Irvine will make its way to La Quinta, California, for the Big West Championships, April 30-May 2.