Cristoni wins 1st individual title at UCSB

Monday, April 11

Goleta, Calif. / Sand Piper

Grand Canyon

UCSB Collegiate Invitational

Photo by: Garrett Ohrenberg

4/12/2022 4:58:00 PM | Men's Golf

Lopes tie for 1st place with CSUN in 14-team field

By: Kellie Reynolds

GOLETA, Calif. – Grand Canyon freshman Matteo Cristoni claimed his first collegiate medalist honors to help the Lopes tie for first place at the UC Santa Barbara Collegiate Invitational on Tuesday.

GCU had two players finish in the top five with a third finishing in the top 20.

Cristoni, who is from Modena, Italy, jumped 20 spots from his opening-day round to win the tournament by one stroke. Cristoni shot a tournament-best round of 7-under-par 65 on Tuesday to finish the event at 5 under par and win the tournament, which was reduced to two rounds because of high winds on Monday at Sandpiper Golf Course,

Cristoni birdied four of his first six holes to shoot up the leaderboard on Tuesday. On his second nine holes, he birdied four of the first six holes again. Cristoni's round ties for the program's third-lowest score by total strokes and second-lowest score by strokes below par of GCU's Division I era.

Fellow GCU freshman Sam Murphy scored 3 under par in the two rounds to come in fourth place overall. Murphy finished the first round 1 under par and improved in round two by one stroke to be the only player besides Sacramento State's Ethan Davidson to shoot under par twice.

The Lopes tied for first place with CSU Northridge at even, which was three strokes ahead of Sacramento State and eight better than fourth-place California Baptist.

GCU sophomore Craig Passmore finished tied for 17th after producing a 3-over-par combined score. Passmore moved up four places from his opening round as he scored just 1 over par in his final round of play.

McPherson, Kansas, native Jacob Lackey made his way back into the top five for the Lopes and landed in the top 40. Lackey, who recorded two tournament eagles, improved by three strokes from his opening round to final round as he finished at 7 over par for the tournament. Junior Matthew Braley was the final Lope at the invitational. Braley struggled in his final round, dropping 17 spots and finishing 8 over par.

The Lopes are back in action on April 20–22 as they take on the El Macero Classic in Davis, California, to end the regular season.