Men’s Golf Tied For Third After 18 Holes Of WCC Championship

Men's Golf

Matt McCarty with head coach Rob Miller

Posted: Apr 16, 2018

SANTEE, Calif. – Led by sophomore Matt McCarty, who carded a 2-under 70, Santa Clara men's golf compiled a 290 to tie for third after the first round of the WCC Championship. The Broncos entered the clubhouse 10 shots behind leader No. 33 ranked Pepperdine.

"It's a tough course," head coach Rob Miller said of the Carlton Oaks layout. "It was challenging with the wind, especially in the afternoon."

The Broncos, ranked No. 50 in this week's Golfstat.com poll, ended the day tied with No. 45 San Francisco. The two are also eight-shots behind second-place Saint Mary's, which shot a 282 on Monday.

McCarty topped all Broncos with his first-round 70, ending the day tied with five other golfers for fourth-place. They are all four-shots back of leader Perry Cohen of Saint Mary's, who shot a 66 over the first 18 holes of the championship tournament.

Santa Clara's freshmen playing out of the No. 4 and No. 5 spots in the lineup each carded a 1-over 73. Jack Avrit recorded a tournament-best 16 pars and Zack Kaneshiro had 14 over the opening round.

Senior Hayden Shieh, who tied for first and lost in a playoff in last year's WCC Championship, scored a first-round 2-over 74 to tie for 23rd. Derek Ackerman's 75 left him tied for 28th at the conclusion of first-round play.

"You can't win it today, you can only lose it," Miller said of the three-day tournament. "We just have to play better, obviously. We'd like to be closer, but we'll have to make up some ground tomorrow. The idea is to get in the last threesome for the final round. You don't want to be too far behind."

VIDEO | Coach Rob Miller of @scugolf breaks down opening day of the @wccsports Championships. #SCUBroncos t-3rd after 18 holes with Matt McCarty leading the way at 2-under (t-4th). #StampedeTogether #WCCChamps pic.twitter.com/wNGW1GbZus
— Santa Clara Broncos (@SCUBroncos) April 17, 2018

Second-round play at the 7,140-yard, par-72 Carlton Oaks Golf Club is scheduled to begin with tee times at 7:50 a.m. on Tuesday. Live scoring is available at Golfstat.com.

Santa Clara 1st Round Individual Results