Bears Win Big Match 4-3

WGOLF9/28/2023 9:01 PM | By: Cal Athletics

Cal’s Men’s And Women’s Golf Teams Victorious At Menlo Country Club

WOODSIDE – After nearly six and a half hours of competition at Menlo Country Club, a deep putt by Rina Tatematsu sealed a 4-3 victory for the California men’s and women’s golf teams in the 2023 edition of the Big Match.

 

With members of both teams and a host of spectators looking on, Tatematsu and her partner Sampson Zheng came up clutch on hole 17, earning the match-clinching 2-and-1 win. The seventh and final Golden Bear pair had been in the lead since the opening hole, going 3-up on multiple occasions before finally staving off Stanford’s Rachel Heck and Karl Vilips.

 

The Bears also got a big win in a back-and-forth battle from Ethan Chung and Adora Liu. Despite trailing through 10 holes, a birdie by Liu on hole 11 tied it and the pair extended its lead on four of the next five holes to take Cal’s largest victory of the day, 4-and-2. Cal claimed 3-and-2 wins from its third pair, Kaylyn Noh and Ethan Fang, and from its fifth pair, Costas Panay and Olivia Lee. Neither set of partners trailed at any point on the day.

 

The unique event featured seven mixed pairs from each rival school competing in a better ball match play format. Each of the seven matches was worth one point, with a total of seven points available in the overall match competition. Cal has won three of the four Big Matches since it was first played in 2019.

 

The victory continued a strong start to the fall season by both Cal squads; the women’s team won a share of the Molly Invitational title with a program-record-shattering 28-under-par (836) just two days ago in Seaside, while the Cal men have already notched a pair of top-three efforts in their first two tournaments of the season.

RESULTS

UP NEXT

The Cal women’s golf team competes next at the Ron Moore Intercollegiate at the University of Denver Golf Club on Oct. 6-8. The Cal men pick things up the next day at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational at Meadow Club in Fairfax on Oct. 9-10.

STAY POSTED

For further coverage of Cal men’s golf, follow the Bears on Twitter (@CalMensGolf), Instagram (@CalMensGolf) and Facebook (/CalMensGolf). For further coverage of Cal women’s golf, follow the Bears on Twitter and Instagram (@CalWGolf).