No. 5 Chico States men’s golf put themselves in the wrong hole Tuesday and was unable to complete the comeback Wednesday in the California Collegiate Athletic Association Men’s Golf Championship.
Day one
Chico State came into the championship attempting to repeat but was unable to keep up with Cal State Monterey Bay.
At the end of the day, senior Serge Kiriluk sat atop of all Wildcats in the standings with three shots over par and tied for 11th place overall.
Josh McCollum and Jordan Oliver were tied and one shot behind Kiriluk. McCollum and Oliver sat tied for 15th place overall.
Cal State Monterey Bay came out to for revenge against the Wildcats as the Wildcats squeezed a home win out last year to win the tournament.
Cal State Monterey Bay finished six over par at had a two-shot lead. The Wildcats were 10 shots behind at 16 over par, putting the Wildcats far behind them. Chico State needed to have a huge comeback Wednesday.
Day two
Chico State started very strong Wednesday as they were able to cut the lead down to five shots early in the day.
Christopher Colla birdied the first four holes on the day with excellent putting. Colla finished 2-under par, the best round on Wednesday and moved up to tie for 10th place.
Despite a hot start, the Wildcats cooled off. Kiriluk and McCollum were able to tie with Colla in 10th place.
Kiriluk shot one-over par Wednesday and McCollum was even on the day.
Chico State finished the tournament 18-shots over par and 11 shots behind the winners, Cal State Monterey Bay.
Monterey Bay finished seven shots over par; winning the California Collegiate Athletic Association championship.
Despite the Wildcats falling short of back-to-back CCAA championship they should not have to worry about making the NCAA tournament since they are ranked No. 5 in the nation and No. 1 in the West Region.
The team will know on Friday at 3 p.m. whether or not they will be playing May 9-11 in St. George, Utah.
Brandon Downs can be reached at [email protected] or @downsbrandon2 on Twitter.