UCLA Heads to El Macero Classic for Regular Season Finale

LOS ANGELES – The UCLA men's golf team closes out its regular season at the El Macero Classic in El Macero, Calif., this week from April 20-22. The three-day, 54-hole stroke play event at El Macero Country Club is par 72 with a yardage of 7,110.
 
The Bruins' starting fivesome will be Eddy Lai, Pablo Ereño Perez, Alvaro Muller, Omar Morales and Evan Chien. Mason Greene will be competing individually.
 
Lai enters the competition leading UCLA in both under par rounds with 11 and scoring average at 72.3 strokes per round (min. 15 rounds played). Lai is the only Bruin to have recorded a top-10 finish this season with his T-8th performance at the Southwestern Invitational on Jan. 24-26 (-3, 213).
 
Ereño Perez ranks second in UCLA's lineup in scoring average with 73.0 strokes per round and is tied for second on the team with seven rounds under par.
 
Lai, Ereño Perez and Muller are the only Bruins to have played 20-plus rounds this season.
 
Chien tees off first for the Bruins in round one tomorrow at 9:40 a.m. PT. He is followed by Muller (9:54 a.m.), Morales (10:08 a.m.), Ereño Perez (10:22 a.m.) and Lai (10:36 a.m.).
 
THE FIELD
Joining UCLA in the 14-team field are UC Davis, CSU Fullerton, UC San Diego, Loyola Marymount, Long Beach State, Fresno State, Grand Canyon, Sacramento State, Idaho, Cal Poly, Seattle University, Santa Clara and Denver University.
 
UC Davis is the highest ranked team in the field at No. 60 and the Aggies' Thomas Hutchison is the highest ranked golfer at No. 20 (Golfstat). The Bruins are ranked No. 82 and Lai is their highest ranked golfer in the lineup at No. 179.
 
WEATHER
The weather forecast for El Macero calls for scattered rain showers during rounds one and two and partly cloudy skies during round three on Friday. Temperature highs range from the mid to high 60s for each day.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Bruins finished 15th out of 15 teams (+16, 868) at the Thunderbird Collegiate on Papago Golf Course in Phoenix, Ariz., last week. Lai and Morales were UCLA's top finishers at the event, tying for 46th (+3, 216).
 
Morales recorded the first under par and sub-70 round of his career on day two with a 2-under 69.
 
EL MACERO CLASSIC HISTORY
UCLA have competed at the El Macero Classic only once (2018) in the event's seven-year history. The Bruins posted a runner-up finish, 10 strokes behind first-place Nevada and then-freshman Devon Bling recorded UCLA's best finish at tied for fifth place (+5, 221).
 
Then-freshman Eddy Lai tied for 39th at 14-over 230.