Feb. 26, 2018
Westlake Village, Calif.----- Enduring a two-hour frost delay and a cold start to its opening round, the San Jose State University men's golf team was in a three-way tie for sixth place after 18 holes of the Southwestern Intercollegiate hosted By Pepperdine University.
The Spartans posted a 302 team score on the par 72, 6,994 yards North Ranch Counry Club Lakes/Oaks course. San Jose State quickly was over par three holes into the tournament, but found a way to steady its play the rest of the way.
Kevin Velo led the Spartans with an even par 72. Velo had five of the team's 10 birdies for the first 18 holes and was as low as two-under after playing 12 holes. He is tied for eighth place among the 78 golfers challenging for individual honors.
The Spartans also counted freshman Vijay Srinivasan's 76 and five-over 77's from Sean Yu and Sean Talmadge. Matthew Murray's 80 was the team's discarded score for the first 18 holes on the par 72, 6,994-yard North Ranch Country Club course.
"The scores don't reflect how well they fought," said San Jose State head coach John Kennaday, who estimated temperatures as low as 40 degrees and gusting winds through the canyons at 15-20 miles per hour.
"I'm proud of the way they fought and played today. If they can play like that, there will be some very good finishes in our future."
UCLA was the first-round team leader with a three-under par 285. Tennessee was second at 290. San Diego State at 293, Pepperdine at 294 and Washington State at 298 rounded out the top five teams in the 15-team field.
Tennessee's Lorenzo Scalise was the only player to shoot sub-70 golf for the first 18 with his five-under par 67. Cole Madey of UCLA was next with a 70. Only seven players managed to be under par in the first round. The average score in round one was 76.18 in a field that includes four top-50 ranked teams.
Play was suspended due to darkness with all players needing to finish as many as 10 holes in the second round.
"You would play two holes down wind and the next two holes into the wind. Midway through the second round, it got really cold and really windy. The greens became very firm and there were very tough conditions this (Monday) afternoon," described the Spartans coach.
The 54-hole tournament resumes Tuesday, February 27, at 8:00 a.m. (PT) with the second round and is scheduled to conclude with a third round of 18 holes later in the day. Live scoring is available at www.golfstat.com.
Southwestern Intercollegiate men's golf tournament
North Ranch Country Club, Westlake Village, Calif.
Par 72, 6,994 yards
18-hole results
| Team scores | |
| 1. UCLA | 285 |
| 2. Tennessee | 290 |
| 3. San Diego State | 293 |
| 4. Pepperdine | 294 |
| 5. Washington State | 298 |
| 6. San Jose State | 302 |
| UC Davis | 302 |
| Denver | 302 |
| 9. Oregon State | 303 |
| 10. New Mexico | 304 |
| 11. SMU | 305 |
| 12. Michigan | 306 |
| 13. Augusta | 309 |
| 14. LMU | 310 |
| 15. Long Beach State | 314 |
| Individual leaders | |
| 1. Lorenzo Scalise, Tennessee | 67 |
| 2. Cole Madey, UCLA | 70 |
| 3. Clay Feagler, Pepperdine | 71 |
| Kyle Mueller, Michigan | 71 |
| Brayden Garrison, Tennessee | 71 |
| Hidetoshi Yoshihara, UCLA | 71 |
| Eddy Lai, UCLA | 71 |
| 8. Kevin Velo, San Jose State | 72 |
| PJ Samiere, San Diego State | 72 |
| Blake Abercrombie, San Diego State | 72 |
| Jackson Markham, SMU | 72 |
| Other San Jose State scores | |
| 38. Vijay Srinivasan | 76 |
| 46. Sean Yu | 77 |
| 46. Sean Talmadge | 77 |
| 63. Matthew Murray | 80 |