LIHUE, Hawaii -- California won for the fifth time in seven events this season with a nine-stroke victory at the weather-shortened John A. Burns Intercollegiate hosted by Hawaii. Cal became the first team to win four consecutive titles in the tournament’s 38-year history.
The third and final round scheduled for Friday at the par-72, 6,991-yard Wailua Golf Course was cancelled due to inclement weather and the tournament was shortened to the 36 holes played Wednesday and Thursday. Cal opened the event Wednesday with a 10-under par 278 to take a seven-stroke lead and extended its margin to nine strokes on Thursday with a six-under par 282 that tied for the day’s best round.
“We are certainly disappointed we were not able to finish the final round of play,” head coach Steve Desimone said. “But overall it was a good team win. Texas A&M, BYU and New Mexico are all really good teams. So it’s nice to come out of this with a win.”
Joël Stalter (67-71 – 138, -6) led the way for the Golden Bears by shooting six-under par for the tournament and finishing in second place, four strokes behind individual medalist Justin Kelly of BYU (68-66 – 134, -10). Stalter was the tournament’s defending champion.
“I’m really happy about my performance and the team’s performance overall,” Stalter said. “It’s a bit frustrating not being able to play today, but this happens and will certainly happen again so we just have to go with it.”
All five Cal players finished in the top 15 with Michael Weaver (70-70 – 140, -4) tied for fourth, Pace Johnson (71-70 – 141, -3) and Keelan Kilpatrick (70-71 – 141, -3) tied for eighth, and Brandon Hagy (71-72 – 143, -1) tied for 14th.
BYU (287-282 – 569, -7) and Texas A&M (286-283 – 569, -7) tied for second nine shots off Cal’s pace and were the only other teams to finish under par for the tournament.
