2025 Big West Championships
Dates: April 27-29 (Sunday-Tuesday)
Location: La Quinta Country Club - La Quinta, Calif.
Par/Yardage: Par 72, 7,060 yards

IRVINE, Calif. - UC Irvine men's golf makes its way to La Quinta, California, for the 2025 Big West Championships, April 27-29. The three-day tournament will be contested at La Quinta Country Club for the fifth year in a row with 18 holes scheduled for each day. UCI's 5-count-4 lineup features Rei Harashima, Jack Yu, Tommy Lin, JJ Nakao and Jason Tang, while Yaoting Zou is an alternate.

Twelve teams will vie for the conference title and an automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals. The third-seeded Anteaters are slated to open the Big West Championships alongside No. 1 Long Beach State, which is ranked 22nd in the nation, and No. 2 Cal Poly in the first round on Sunday. The rest of the field includes No. 4 UC San Diego, No. 5 Sacramento State, No. 6 UC Riverside, No. 7 Cal State Fullerton, No. 8 UC Davis, No. 9 Idaho, No. 10 Hawai'i, No. 11 UC Santa Barbara and No. 12 CSUN.

BIG WEST NOTABLES
Long Beach State is the two-time defending Big West champion and will be looking to become the first team to three-peat since UC Irvine did it in 2001-03. The Anteaters lead all active league members with eight conference titles. They most recently hoisted the trophy in 2018, when as the seventh seed, they edged No. 1 UC Davis by one stroke. UCI has also produced four individual conference titles - John Chin (2008, 2010), Mike Leavy (2003) and Ryan Armstrong (2002).

LAST TIME OUT
UC Irvine closed out the regular season at the 78th Western Intercollegiate at Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, April 14-16. Rei Harashima led the Anteaters with a 54-hole score of 1-under 209 (67-69-73). Harashima tied for 11th in an elite field of 91 golfers. Jack Yu also tied for 22nd (213) after climbing 21 spots in the standings with a final-round 69. 

SETTING THE TONE
Junior Rei Harashima owns a team-best nine sub-70 rounds through nine tournaments. He also leads the squad with five top-20 showings. Three of those were top-10 performances as he finished eighth at the Visit Stockton Pacific Invitational (69-68-69), while tying for 10th at both the Orange County Collegiate Classic (76-69-74) and UCSD Invitational. Harashima fired a season-best 67 at the Oregon State Invitational (T17th), Ka'anapali Classic and Western Intercollegiate (T11th). The two-time All-Big West selection ranks first on the team with a 72.30 stroke average.

WELCOME TO THE SHOW
Freshmen Jack Yu and Tommy Lin have been immediate contributors to the Anteater lineup. Yu has played in all but one tournament and ranks second on the team with a 72.54 average. He owns three top-20 finishes including at the UC San Diego Invitational where he tied for fourth. Lin has seen action in six events with a scoring average of 73.78. He had a season-best fourth-place showing at the Orange County Collegiate Classic where he came in at 2-under 214.

GOING LOW
As a team, the Anteaters came in below par in three of their four fall tournaments. Individually, four players have combined for 19 sub-70 scores, led by nine from Rei Harashima. Jack Yu also has five rounds in the 60s with a best of 68. Junior JJ Nakao posted two of his four sub-70 rounds at the Ka'anapali Classic, closing out the event with a season-best 66. Sophomore Jason Tang added a season-best 69 in his final tournament of the fall season.

SEASON-OPENING WIN
UC Irvine won its season-opening tournament, finishing first in a 12-team field at the Oregon State Invitational at Trysting Tree Golf Club, Oct. 7-8. UCI came from behind to defeat the host Beavers by two strokes. It was the Anteaters' first stroke play tournament victory since winning the Big West Championship in 2018. The 'Eaters also won the Cal Poly Match Play Tournament in 2019. JJ Nakao led UC Irvine at 2-under 211 for a career-best fourth-place showing.