Cal Tied for Seventh after First Round at Tavistock

ORLANDO, FL – Cal shot a five-under par round of 283 at the par-72, 7,200-yard Lake Nona Golf & Country Club on Sunday to open the 54-hole Tavistock Collegiate Invitational. The Golden Bears will begin Sunday’s second round of action 16 strokes behind host and first-round leader Texas Tech (267, -21), who set a tournament record Sunday for a single-round team score.

Florida State (270, -18), Vanderbilt (271, -17), Illinois (276, -12), North Florida (278, -10) and New Mexico (280, -8) are also ahead of the Bears, while Cal is tied for seventh with Baylor.

“We were all looking at the scoreboard and saying ‘Holy Toledo! What golf course were those guys were playing,” head coach Steve Desimone said. “I don’t think anybody thought those numbers were possible. But it just goes to show you that at the upper levels of college golf you get great players and great teams. We’ve seen it, we’ve been there, and that is our plan for tomorrow.”

In two wins earlier this season, Cal was tied for sixth (Windon Memorial) and ninth (Alister MacKenzie Invitational) at the end of the first 18 holes. Cal was also fourth (Gopher Invitational) and tied for fourth (Itani Quality Homes Collegiate) after the first round of its other two fall events before improving in both to finish second and third, respectively.

“We’ve had a wonderful fall for such a young team,” Desimone said. “This is a good time to see what the measuring stick is. I told the guys that we don’t get too low or too high off one round. We have 36 holes left and overall this team has had a tendency to play better as the tournament has gone on, and I think that’s what will happen here. I suspect we’ll play a little bit better in each round.”

First-round leader Guillermo Pereira of Texas Tech also set a single-round tournament record with a nine-under par round of 63 and is two shots ahead of second-place Hunter Stewart of Vanderbilt (65, -7).

Cameron Shaw and Keelan Kilpatrick are the closest Cal players to the lead in a tie for 27th place and seven shots off Pereira’s pace after both had opening rounds of two-under par 70. Shaw had a team-high-tying five birdies and was five-under par through 10 holes before making bogey on three of his final eight holes. Kilpatrick had four birdies but gave back a pair of strokes with a double bogey on 11.

“It was definitely not a fast start, but I don’t think we played ourselves out of the tournament,” Shaw said. “We still have two rounds left and if any of the previous events are to go by, we will only improve our position as the tournament goes on. It’s a great tournament to be competing in and a test we all need.”

“It wasn’t our best day but not our worst either,” Kilpatrick said. “We’ve left ourselves a long way from the lead but this entire season we’ve got off to slow starts and been a better second and third-round team. This is by far the best field we’ve played this season and it’s good for the younger guys to get an idea of the competition we will be up against come some of the bigger events in the spring.”

The 16-team Tavistock Collegiate Invitational field features four top-10 teams according to both the latest Golfstat and Golfweek rankings (No. 1/1 Illinois, No. 2/6 Florida State, No. 4/2 Baylor, No. 7/10 Texas) as well as three others in the top 25 (No. 12/15 Vanderbilt, No. 14/11 New Mexico, No. 17/17 Cal).

A trio of true freshmen is in Cal’s lineup for the event with KK Limbhasut tied for 36th (71, -1), Sebastian Crampton tied for 44th (72, E) and Ben Doyle tied for 48th (73, +1).

Limbhasut equaled Shaw’s five birdies including a stretch of three in a row on the back nine (14-16) but also had a team-high four bogeys, while Crampton had the team’s lone eagle on the par-five ninth hole when he drained a 30-foot putt.

Both Monday’s second round and Tuesday’s third round get underway at 8 a.m. ET/5 a.m. PT. The Bears will play Monday in five threesomes along with Baylor and UCF, while Tuesday’s tee times and pairings will be announced following the conclusion of Monday’s second round.

TAVISTOCK COLLEGIATE INVITATIONAL (HOSTED BY TEXAS TECH)
ORLANDO, FL
LAKE NONA GOLF & COUNTRY CLUB (PAR-72, 7200 YARDS)
 
TEAM LEADERBOARD (after 1 of 3 days/1 of 3 rounds/18 of 54 holes)
1. Texas Tech (267, -21)
2. Florida State (270, -18)
3. Vanderbilt (271, -17)
4. Illinois (276, -12)
5. North Florida (278, -10)
6. New Mexico (280, -8)
T7. Cal (283, -5)
T7. Baylor (283, -5)
T9. UCF (287, -1)
T9. Florida (287, -1)
T9. Georgia (287, -1)
T12. Arkansas (288, E)
T12. GRU Augusta (288, E)
T12. UNLV (288, E)
15. Indiana (290, +2)
 
PLAYER LEADERBOARD – INDIVIDUAL LEADER (after 1 of 3 days/1 of 3 rounds, 18 of 54 holes)
1. Guillermo Pereira (Texas Tech) 63 (-9)

PLAYER LEADERBOARD – CAL INDIVIDUALS (after 1 of 3 days/1 of 3 rounds, 18 of 54 holes)
T27. Cameron Shaw 70 (-2)
T27. Keelan Kilpatrick 70 (-2)
T36. KK Limbhasut 71 (-1)
T44. Sebastian Crampton 72 (E)
T48. Ben Doyle 73 (+1)