May 14, 2009

Results

DALY CITY, Calif. --- UC Irvine is in eighth place following Thursday's first round of the NCAA West Regional at Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City.

Arizona State leads the 13-team field with a 9-under score of 279. New Mexico is second at 280 and Texas A&M is third at 281. UCI shot 1-over 289 Thursday.

Matthew Giles of USC is the individual leader at 7-under 65 with Arizona State's Jesper Kennegard in second at 66.

UCI junior John Chin is in 13th place after opening with a 1-under round of 71.

Freshman Roberto Francioni is 20th at 72, senior Sean Shahi and sophomore Max Greil are tied for 37th place at 73 and sophomore Bryan Harris is 49th at 74.

Coach Paul Smolinski's program is competing in its eighth regional in the past nine years.

Eighteen holes each are scheduled for Friday and Saturday. The top five teams following Saturday's final round will advance to the NCAA Championship at The Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio, May 25-30.