Marana, AZ—Matt Lutz shot a four-under par 68 in the final round of the Tucson NCAA Regional to finish third and advance to the NCAA Championships, May 27-June 1 in Eugene, OR. The Highlanders shot their best team round of the tournament with a seven-under par 281 to finish sixth, just three shots shy of advancing to the NCAA Championships with a top-5 team finish. (
Final results)
Lutz's historic performance establishes a new high in UC Riverside Big West golf history, having achieved the best performance in the NCAA Regionals, besting Brandon Hillpot's 11
th place finish at Cross Water Creek in 2005.
The Highlanders also established a new top finish in the NCAA Regionals for the program since joining the Big West with their sixth place result. Hillpot's 2005 team finished achieved the previous mark with 14
th place showing.
Entering the final round, UCR was in seventh and five strokes off the pace of the top-5. For the first time in the tournament, the Highlanders started off the 10th tee. Through the first the first six holes, they five under par as a team and closing ground on the ranked schools in front of them.
Lutz made birdie on his second hole of the day, the 558 yard par 5, 11th. He had four straight pars on 12-15, before bogeying16 and then bouncing back with a birdie on 17.
Lutz started his second nine of the day with a birdie on one and after pars on no. 3 and 4, he made his fourth birdie on the day on no. 4. On the par 5 559 yard 6
th, Lutz would make a 10 foot putt for his final birdie of the round, which featured a -3 bogey free second nine. His 68 placed him third behind Stanford's Franklin Huang (-12) and #2 ranked player Maverick McNealey (-10).
Three Highlanders had their best round of the tournament in the final round, Michael Wong checked-in with a two-under par 70, Brandon Tsujimoto continued his round-over-round improvement with a one-under 71, and Andrew Spilman navigated his way through the desert course for an even par 72.
UC Riverside finished behind five ranked teams and ahead of four teams ranked by Golfstat.
| Pos |
Team |
Rd 1 Score |
Rd 2
Score |
Rd 3 Score |
Total, To Par |
| 1 |
1Stanford |
274 |
284 |
275 |
833 (-31) |
| 2 |
24Oregon |
285 |
288 |
274 |
847 (-17) |
| 3 |
37UAB |
283 |
291 |
283 |
857 (-7) |
| 4 |
13California |
287 |
293 |
282 |
862 (-2) |
| 5 |
12Wake Forest |
286 |
295 |
282 |
863 (-1) |
| 6 |
UC Riverside |
288 |
297 |
281 |
866 (+2) |
| Pos. 6 |
UC Riverside |
1st Rd
288 |
2nd Rd
297 |
3rd Rd
281 |
Total
866 |
| 3 |
Matt Lutz |
66 |
75 |
68 |
209 |
| T33 |
Michael Wong |
75 |
75 |
70 |
220 |
| T40 |
Sam Gillis |
72 |
73 |
77 |
222 |
| T47 |
Andrew Spilman |
75 |
77 |
72 |
224 |
| T50 |
Brandon Tsujimoto |
80 |
74 |
71 |
225 |
