March 31, 2003
SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara University men's golf team had a day to remember during the first two rounds of the 29th Annual Bite/Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Tournament hosted by UC Santa Barbara at the Sandpiper Golf Course in Santa Barbara, Calif. on Monday. The Broncos fired rounds of 284 and 282 to finish day in 6th place at 10-under par.
Of the 21 teams in the tournament, seven are currently ranked in the nation's Division I top-100. Santa Clara is currently ahead of three of those teams, one shot ahead of No. 38 Colorado State, four shots ahead of No. 31 California and seven shots ahead of No. 93 San Jose State. No. 36 UC Irvine and No. 39 Fresno State hold the lead after day one with their two-round team totals of 21-under par, 555.
Freshman Blake Lugar paced the Broncos with his 72 and 68 to finish day one in a tie for 17th place with his 4-under par total of 140. Justin Ahasic, Chris DeMartini and Matt Klenz each fired rounds of 70 and 72 on the day for a two-round total of 2-under par, 142, good enough for a share of 27th place. Michael Nicoletti rounded out the SCU scoring with his 78 and 72, to sit in a tie for 87th at 6-over par, 150, heading into Tuesday's third and final round.
"We finally are starting to see tournament results that are similar to those that we post in our practice rounds," said head coach John Kennaday. "Today's results show that we can play with some of the best teams in the country, but we know that there are still 18 more holes of golf to play, so we are concentrating on playing well again tomorrow."
Santa Clara's two-round team total of 566 is 13-strokes better than its previous best day one total in a tournament this season. Its previous best of 579 after the first two rounds came at the Idaho Vandal Tournament, this season's first tourney of the year.
Tuesday's final round will also be contested at Sandpiper, with the players going off in tee times assigned by where the team ranked after the first day. Following the conclusion of the Bite Intercollegiate, the Broncos will return to action on April 7 and 8 at the prestigious Western Intercollegiate hosted by San Jose State at the Pasatiempo Golf Course in Santa Cruz, Calif.
