CARLSBAD, Calif. — San Diego native
Ian Maspat lit up the scoreboard on Friday morning to card a six-under 66, pacing the field of more than 150 players at the NCAA Championship in Carlsbad as he finished the opening round of the tournament in a tie for first place.
Coming off an NCAA Regional in which San Diego men's golf peppered the back nine with birdies, the Toreros once against went low on the final nine holes of their opening round of the National Championship at Omni La Costa Resort and Spa to be in a tie for fourth place among the 30 participating teams at 2-under par.
San Diego, which started its second straight National Championship appearance on the 10th hole in the morning wave, started out with seven birdies, compared to just one bogey across the first four holes while also holding an early lead.
That includes Maspat beginning his round with four straight birdies as part of a 6-under 66 to hold the 18-hole lead. The WCC individual stroke play champion, shot 5-under 31 through his first nine nine holes and added two more birdies on his closing front nine before his blemish of the day, a bogey on the par-4 ninth.
"It was a great day overall," Maspat said as he tied for first with Arizona State's Connor Williams and Alabama's Wiliam Jennings. "Got off to a really hot start, which was nice. "Just took it one shot at a time the whole day. Me and Coach Emerick were communicating really well out there, staying patient, and we just did a good job of staying in the moment."
"I went into the round with no expectations, I was just going to take it nice and easy, slow and steady, one shot at a time. Hearing that my teammates got off to a nice start too got me going. I couldn't have asked for a better start."
Cooper Humphreys and Reed Arnaldo both shot 1-over 73. Arnaldo answered an opening hole bogey with a birdie on the drivable par-4 11th. Four of the five San Diego golfers, including both Humphreys and Arnaldo, recorded birdies on the 11th.
Humphreys then bounced back from a bogey on the long, par-4 14th with birdies on the par-4 15th and USD's only birdie of the day on the par-4 17th. However, Arnaldo, Humphreys and Reid Piron all logged double bogeys on the par-5 18th.
Arnaldo, who went to La Costa Canyon High School, which is just over two miles from Omni La Costa Resort and Spa, redeemed himself after the double bogey with birdies on the par-5 second and the par-4 third to get back to even par.
On the front nine, Humphreys recorded eight pars before suffering a bogey on the ninth to close his opening round.
Before Piron registered a double bogey to end his opening nine holes, the 6-foot-3 freshman shot 3-under through his first six holes, including back-to-back birdies on 14 and 15.
Piron got back to 2-under par with a birdie on the fourth before closing out his round with a bogey on the sixth and a double bogey on the ninth to finish one stroke behind Humphreys and Arnaldo.
San Diego fifth player was You Seong Choi as Brady Clark remained as the team's substitute.
Choi, who had a stellar regional appearance last week, joined the group with a birdie on the 11th. However, the junior bogeyed the par-4 17th to settle for an even par 36 on his first nine holes. On the front nine, Choi shot five-over as he closed his round with five consecutive pars.
As USD sits in a tie for fourth place with Duke, only Auburn and West Coast Conference foe Pepperdine are ahead of the Toreros at 4 and 3-under par, respectively before the leader, UCLA at 8-under par.
Three schools – Arizona, North Carolina and Vanderbilt – sit one stroke behind San Diego.
On the individual leaderboard below Maspat, Williams and Jennings, UCLA's Baylor Larrabee sits in solo fourth at 5-under par. Four golfers – Texas' Luke Potter, Louisiana's Malan Potgieter, Virginia's Ben James and Arizona's Filip Jakubcik round out the top five at 4-under par.
UP NEXT
San Diego gets set for the second round of the NCAA Championships Saturday at Omni La Costa Resort and Spa.
Here are the tee times for tomorrow as the Toreros tee off from the first hole with golfers from the University of Memphis and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. (All times Pacific)
