April 20, 2008

STANFORD, Calif. - The California men's golf team had another outstanding performance on Sunday, finishing the U.S. Intercollegiate Championship in third place at the Stanford Golf Course. Junior George Gandranata and freshman Stephen Hale led the Golden Bears, both finishing the event at 213 (+3) to tie for 13th place overall.

USC, ranked No. 2 in the nation, won the event, firing a 275 on Sunday to wrap up at 828 (+12). Host and 11th-ranked Stanford was 11-under on Sunday at 269 to close the gap a bit, but still finished in second at 841 (+1). Cal and UCLA were tied for third at 857 (+17). UC Irvine finished in fifth place with an 861 (+21). Five ranked teams finished below the Golden Bears.

"The round we had yesterday afternoon may have been our best of the year and today was close to it no doubt," Cal head coach Steve Desimone said. "We had to play well and did. Tying UCLA and beating a lot of other good teams is great. I would say this was our best tournament of the year coming at the right time. Good teams and great teams have to play well in final rounds. That was a huge issue for us in the fall. But every event this spring, we have picked up ground in that final round and we did it again today, against a great field. We keep doing what we need to do when we need to do it.

"When it comes to postseason play, you can't take anything for granted. Are we a bubble team? I don't know. But this kind of finish certainly moves us in the right direction."

While Gandranata and Hale were the Bears top finishers, on Sunday it was senior Brandon Beck pacing the squad as he shot a one-under 69 with five birdies to climb to 20th overall in the field. Sophomore Evan Derian matched Gandranata by shooting a 70 on Sunday to climb to 16th place. Derian had three birdies and three bogeys in the final round while Gandranata had just one bogey which he offset with a birdies on the ninth hole.

Hale wrapped up a very solid tournament with a 71 in Sunday's action. The freshman had shot a 72 and a 70 in Saturday action. Freshman Eric Mina also had a solid final round, tallying a 71 to climb to 49th place overall with a 225 (+15).

"Eric and George are pretty sick, I was concerned coming into today," Desimone said. "They're both tough guys, but sometimes after 36 holes, you can run of gas. But they really competed and they'll sleep well tonight. Brandon came back very well; we had five scores today 69-71, all five guys have been that way pretty much all spring. That's the mark of a very good team."

This event was the final regular-season tournament for the Golden Bears who will host the Pac-10 Championships from April 28-30 at the Meadow Club in Fairfax, Calif.

CALIFORNIA SCORING
U.S. Intercollegiate (Hosted by Stanford)
Stanford Golf Course (Par 70, 6,835 yards)
Stanford, Calif.

Team Place: 3rd (of 17 teams)
Score: 288-289-280 - 857 (+17)

Individuals:
T13. Stephen Hale: 72-70-71 - 213 (+3)
T13. George Gandranata: 68-75-70 - 213 (+3)
T16. Evan Derian: 73-72-70 - 215 (+5)
T20. Brandon Beck: 75-72-69 - 216 (+6)
T49. Eric Mina: 76-78-71 - 225 (+15)

Team Standings:
1. USC: 266-288-275 - 828 (-12)
2. Stanford: 279-293-269 - 841 (+1)
T3. California: 288-289-280 - 857 (+17)
T3. UCLA: 284-290-283 - 857 (+17)
5. UC Irvine: 285-296-280 - 861 (+21)
6. Arizona State: 286-298-288 - 872 (+32)
7. San Diego State: 285-298-291 - 874 (+34)
8. Oregon State: 291-299-285 - 875 (+35)
9. UC Davis: 293-303-292 - 888 (+48)
10. Oregon: 287-305-297 - 889 (+49)
11. Washington: 298-300-292 - 890 (+50)
12. TCU: 294-308-291 - 893 (+53)
T13. Toledo: 295-302-298 - 895 (+55)
T13. San Jose State: 302-301-292 - 895 (+55)
15. Nevada: 307-301 - 608 (+21)
16. Minnesota: 300-304-304 - 908 (+68)
17. Northern Colorado: 316-324 - 640 (+44)