Behind Aaron Du, Cal grabs early lead at Western Intercollegiate

April 10, 2023 | by Jim Young of AmateurGolf.com

Aaron Du (Cal Athletics photo)

Cal junior lights up Pasatiempo for a 7-under 63 to lead the Golden Bears to the top of the leaderboard

Behind a 7-under 63 by junior Aaron Du, the California Golden Bears grabbed the first-round lead at the Western Intercollegiate being played at Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, Calif.

The Bears carded an opening round 16-under 334 in the six-count-five format and will take a one-stroke lead into Tuesday's second round over Oregon (-15) while Stanford (-11) is five off the pace.

Du put on quite the show for the national audience watching on the Golf Channel, registering six birdies and an eagle on the par-70 Alister Mackenzie layout. For a tournament that boasts alumni that have tallied 550 PGA Tour wins, including 50 majors, Du's 7-under 63 tied the tournament scoring record, shared by Jason Allred of Pepperdine (2000) and John Streibich of Xavier (2007).

Cal also benefitted from under-par rounds by Sampson Zheng (66), Jeewon Park (67), Daniel Heo (67) and a 1-over 71 by Nathan Wang.

Oregon nearly matched Cal shot-for-shot, carding a 15-under 335. Junior Gregory Solhaug is just one back of Du after carding an opening round 64 while Owen Avrit is two back after signing for a 65. Greyson Leach (68), Nate Stember (69) and Aiden Krafft (69) were also in red numbers for the Ducks.

Stanford's Michael Thorbjornsen shot a bogey-free 64 and along with Solhaug, is one back of Du heading into Tuesday's second round.

The final two rounds of the Western Intercollegiate will be carried live on Golf Channel. Tuesday's coverage begins at 4:00 p.m. PT with Wednesday's final round scheduled for 1:00 p.m. PT.

Results: Western Intercollegiate

Place	Player	Location	Pts	Scores
1	Derek Hitchner	Minneapolis, MN	700	68-64-71=203
T2	Yuki Moriyama	Las Vegas, NV	500	68-67-69=204
T2	Owen Avrit	Arroyo Grande, CA	500	65-66-73=204
4	Sam Choi	Anaheim, CA	400	66-65-74=205
5	Sampson Zheng	, China	400	66-70-70=206

View full results for Western Intercollegiate

About the Western Intercollegiate

Behind Aaron Du, Cal grabs early lead at Western Intercollegiate

54-hole men's college tournament hosted by San Jose State University. “The Western” is one of the most highly recognized national collegiate tournaments, conducted since 1946 Pasatiempo Golf Club; a historic venue where a player’s talent is always we...