Collin Morikawa

Cal began the tournament ranked No. 26 by Golfstat, behind seven of its opponents at the Tavistock Invitational, a tournament known for its competitive field. Still, the Bears managed to pull out some strong rounds and challenge their higher-ranked competitors, especially early in the tournament.

In last year’s event, the Bears came back on the final day of the tournament to gain 10 strokes on their opponents, propelling them to a one-stroke victory over Florida and Illinois. Both teams are back to the tournament to exact their revenge, but Cal is prepared to take them on.

“It was an eye-opening round in terms of what we’re capable of doing,” head coach Walter Chun said. “Coaches always believe that they can perform at a high level, and having players execute what you hope and believe they can do — it’s what coaches dream of.”

For the past 16 years, Cal has hosted the annual invitational at Meadow Club in Fairfax. The team’s familiarity with the course is undoubtedly going to be an advantage once again — just as it was in 2017 as the Bears dominated the rest of the field, winning by 17 strokes.

Morikawa is fresh off a strong junior season, as he was named Golfweek Men’s Player of the Year and ranked No. 1 by Golfweek/Sagarin and Golfstat for the 2017-18 season.

The inaugural Big Match was a four-ball contest played at Menlo Country Club. Cal sent six pairs, each with a representative from the men’s and women’s teams (with the exception of one pair in which both members were from the women’s team) to compete against six Stanford pairs.

This unique event paired players from both the women’s and men’s teams to compete in a four-ball style tournament with six different matches.

This time, it won’t be possible for the men’s and women’s golf teams to split the bragging rights with Stanford, because they will be combining to play in a co-ed, winner-take-all tournament.

On top of beating last year’s finish in the tournament, the Bears were also determined to prove themselves after an 11th-place finish at the Carpet Capital Collegiate tournament in Georgia last weekend.

With several seasoned players, the team hoped to continue this improvement at the start of the new school year, but its 11th-place finish showed how much work could still be done to reach its end-of-season goals.