FAIRFIELD, Calif. - The WCC Championships got underway Friday morning in the Gaels' home state of California. The Gaels are trying to build on their momentum from two weeks ago when they finished the regular season with back-to-back second place team finishes. In round one, they did just that, finishing in sixth place, four-under par, with a total team score of 284. 

The Gaels made the front nine look effortless in both rounds one and two, where they were a combined fifteen-under par, with twenty birdies and an eagle. The back nine was a more challenging feat for them, where they still managed to put up eleven birdies and four eagles, but fifteen bogies bogged down the scorecard. 

Avery Lazarski began his round with a birdie on his first hole, the 10th, and would go on to finish even par through the first 18 holes of the day. Fellow Gael Go Nakatsukasa also had an impressive round finishing (-2), t-6th in total pars and t-5th on par four scoring. Lazarski and Nakatsukasa also both collected an eagle during their second round, which saw them tie for 3rd place in terms of total eagles. 

Aidan Lee also stepped up big time for the Gaels in round two as he teed off at the first, the easiest hole on the course, a 451-yard par five, where the average scoring was 4.15. A birdie-par-birdie start for him would lead to a three-under second round, which helped catapult the Gaels from sixth place to fourth with a score of (-19), eight shots ahead of 5th place at the end of day one.

The man on fire that swung the momentum for the Gaels was senior Connor Reis, who had a historic day. Reis shot three-under in the first round, but the magic came in the second round where he would shoot eight-under-par, bringing him to (-11) and tied first place individually. Reis is not only t-1st in eagles (2), but also first in par five scoring at ten-under. If Reis continues his magnificent performance, he could become the first Gael to win the individual title at a conference championship since 2016. 

The field is full of top players, but the Gaels look bound to make the second part of the weekend, where the top four teams face off in a match-play format to determine the WCC tournament champion. The Gaels will tee off in the morning for their final 18 holes, with a chance to compete not only for a spot in the final round but also for Connor Reis to take home first place individually.  

"We did a good job hanging in there during the first round when we didn't have our best stuff", said head coach Scott Hardy. "A hot start to the second round put us in position to have a solid end to the first day and move up the leaderboard. We have a lot of work to do tomorrow and need to stay aggressive and attack this course to take advantage of the scoring opportunities" (Hardy). 

Live scoring for the final round can be found HERE.

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