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Cal Primed For NCAA Rancho Santa Fe Regional

by calbears.com
May 11, 2024
Ethan Fang is one of four Golden Bears making their NCAA postseason debuts for Cal at the Rancho Santa Fe Regional.

BERKELEY – The No. 22-ranked California men's golf team is back in the postseason for a second consecutive season and will compete in the NCAA Rancho Santa Fe Regional Monday through Wednesday at The Farms Golf Club, located just north of San Diego.
 
The fourth-seeded Golden Bears are seeking their first NCAA Championship appearance since 2019, needing a top-five finish in the 14-team, 54-hole Rancho Santa Fe Regional in order to advance. The top five teams and the low individual not on an advancing team will advance to a field of 30 teams and six additional individuals that will play in the NCAA Championship at Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad on May 24-29.
 
Cal will play the first round alongside No. 5 seed/26th-ranked Oklahoma State and No. 6 seed/No. 34 -ranked North Florida. The three teams will tee off hole 10 in 11-minute increments between 8:30-9:14 a.m. PT. Teams and individuals will be re-paired according to score after the first and second rounds.
 
TOURNAMENT INFO

  • Dates: May 13-15, 2024
  • Format: 54 holes (18-18-18, Monday-Wednesday); 5-count-4
  • Location: Rancho Santa Fe, California | The Farms Golf Club
  • Course Info: Par 70 | 6,962 Yards
  • Host: San Diego
  • Live Scoring: Golfstat
  • Pairings: Golfstat

OFF THE TEE
1. Sampson Zheng
2. Ethan Fang
3. Eric Lee
4. Jeewon Park
5. Kuangyu (Tony) Chen
Substitute – Nathan Wang
 
THE FIELD (14)
1. Arizona State (#3)
2. Washington (#10)
3. Oklahoma (#16)
4. California (#22)
5. Oklahoma State (#26)
6. North Florida (#34)
7. Chattanooga (#38)
8. South Florida (#46)
9. San Diego (#50)
10. West Virginia
11. Kansas
12. Wright State
13. Seton Hall
14. Winthrop
 
CHIP SHOTS

  • The Golden Bears will wear patches during the Rancho Santa Fe Regional in memory of the late Kent Newmark. Newmark – a longtime philanthropic supporter of the Golden Bears who competed on the tennis and track & field teams at Cal before graduating in 1960 – was a member at The Farms Golf Club, the host site of the regional. Newmark passed away earlier this spring.
  • Cal is back in NCAA Regional play for the second straight season and 25th time in program history. The Blue & Gold has advanced to the NCAA Championship 12 times, including a winning the 2004 national title and earning back-to-back third-place finishes in 2012 and 2013.
  • The Golden Bears have twice won an NCAA Regional in 2012 (Stanford) and 2013 (Pullman, Washington). Michael Weaver is Cal's lone NCAA Regional individual medalist, having earned co-medalist honors in 2013.
  • Cal placed sixth at the 2023 Morgan Hill Regional last spring, narrowly missing out on an NCAA Championship berth. Only Sampson Zheng – Cal's No. 1 this week – was a part of the Golden Bears' Morgan Hill Regional lineup a year ago; he tied for seventh individually, shooting even par (70-75-71 – 216).
  • The Golden Bears Bears have seven top-three finishes – including two tournament wins and three runner-up finishes – in 11 stroke-play events this season, and most recently placed second at the Pac-12 Championship. The pair of wins came back-to-back in October at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational and the Cal Poly Invitational.
  • Zheng, ranked 34th nationally, has anchored the Cal lineup down the stretch this season with four consecutive top-10 finishes since early March. The senior was named to the All-Pac-12 First Team for the second consecutive season and is ranked 15th in PGA TOUR University.
  • Freshmen Ethan Fang and Eric Lee have bolstered Cal's lineup throughout the 2023-24 campaign. Fang – who placed third at the Pac-12 Championship and has five top-15 finishes this season – was voted onto the All-Pac-12 Second Team and Pac-12 All-Freshman Team. Lee, who won his collegiate debut at the Marquette Invitational last September, has four additional top-15 finishes and was a Pac-12 All-Freshman Team honorable mention.
  • Cal has held a national ranking for the entire spring season, ranking as high as No. 17.
  • Along with Fang and Lee, senior Jeewon Park and redshirt junior Kuangyu (Tony) Chen will make their NCAA Regional debuts. Chen has been a mainstay in the Cal lineup, logging 30 rounds across 10 events despite not playing in the Pac-12 Championship. He won his first collegiate event with a 10-under-par 206 at the Cal Poly Invitational and has earned five other top-25 finishes this season. Park most recently had his best finish of the season at the Pac-12 Championship, tying for 29th.
  • Cal is one of two in-state schools playing in the Rancho Santa Fe Regional, along with host San Diego. The field includes two other Pac-12 teams in No. 1 seed/No. 3-ranked Arizona State and No. 2 seed/10th-ranked Washington.

STAY POSTED
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