Big West Conference Championship
De Los Santos Wins Big West Conference Golf Championship for Cal Poly
4/28/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — Cal Poly sophomore Justin De Los Santos saved his best round for last, firing a 1-under-par 69 Tuesday afternoon to win the Big West Conference individual golf championship by one stroke at San Luis Obispo Country Club.
As the morning fog lifted, De Los Santos teed off with the fifth of 15 groups at 8:10 (about 45 minutes after the first trio headed out).
After ending each of the opening two days of the 54-hole tournament in third place, De Los Santos took over the lead late, upon sinking four birdies over the final third: on the par-4 second hole, the par-5 tenth, and the par-4 twelfth and thirteenth.
He had previously carded a first-round 70 before tacking on a 73 in the second, the foundation of what became his 2-over finish, at 212.
UC Irvine senior Pete Fernandez, his main challenger for the majority of play (along with UC Riverside senior David Gazzolo), sat atop the leaderboard for much of the day, but he double-bogeyed the par-3 fourteenth before also bogeying the par-4 sixteenth, suddenly opening up the opportunity. De Los Santos capitalized, shooting even par on each of the last three holes.
In winning the title, De Los Santos clinched the league's automatic individual berth to upcoming NCAA Regional competition, which will be held at six sites (those being Bremerton, Wash.; Chapel Hill, N.C.; Lubbock, Texas; New Haven, Conn.; Noblesville, Ind. and San Diego) from May 14-16.
He'll learn his destination when bids are announced on the NCAA Selection Show televised by The Golf Channel at 7 a.m. Monday.
In the team standings, the Mustangs finished sixth, with a four-man score of 876. Fernandez's Anteaters (at a 20-over 860 aggregate) negated the looming possibility of a rare team playoff by similarly edging top-seeded UC Davis (861) by just one shot, dethroning back-to-back defending champion Cal State Fullerton for the crown.
Cal Poly junior Cam Price (72-73-75) and redshirt freshman Jesse Yap (73-72-75) each totaled 10-over 220 totals to tie for 15th place.
Additionally, Mustang freshman Jimmy Castles shot his best round (72) to finish tied for 31st, at 227 (following 77-78), while sophomore teammate Mitch Martin (74-80-76) was 36th, at 230.
The 6,677-yard course saw a combined average of 74.6 overall.
De Los Santos joined former three-time conference Athlete of the Year Travis Bertoni (who took home the No. 1 plaque in the 2005 postseason) as a Big West champion from Cal Poly.
Those to make it out of regionals advance on to the national championships, held from May 29 through June 3 at Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla.
