CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA, Calif. – In the squad's first tournament of the 2023-24 campaign, Academy of Art men's golf saw success at the PCH Invitational as junior Giulio Zanichelli finished in first place as the individual champion while the team rounded out at tied for second place, as they shot a 27-over-par 595 at the Quail Lodge & Golf Club.

"I'm proud of the guys and the way they fought today," said ART U Head Coach Joe Dolby. "We talked constantly about being disciplined with our game plan, sticking to our process, executing as best as we can, and letting the results play themselves out. Today was a great example of that, and it resulted in an individual victory for Giulio and a team second-place finish. We know we still have things we can do better, but this result feels great and validates all the hard work we've put in to this point. We are looking forward to our next chance to compete in a couple weeks!"

While Zanichelli ranked second after the first day of competition with a 2-under-par 69, the Parma, Italy native contained composure and shot an even-par 71 on Tuesday, finishing with a 2-under-par 140 as the tournament lead. Zanichelli hit a birdie on Hole 14 on both days, and delivered three more on all new holes on day two. He achieved his first collegiate individual tournament win since joining the program in 2021, as he is the first Urban Knight to record a tournament win since Matthew Watkins on October 12, 2021.

Climbing six spots into the top 10 on the second day of play was senior Allan Osornio, who bettered his first day by a stroke and finished at tied for sixth overall. Having his score by the end of the tournament finishing at a 5-over-par 147, Osornio was the only player on the first day to record an eagle in the competition and his second day 2-over-par 73 is his second best round of the 2023-24 season.

Finding great improvement on day two was sophomore Jerah Venkaiya, who climbed 10 spots in the individual rankings with a 2-over-par 73 to shoot his best round of his campaign by two strokes, finishing off the tournament with a 10-over-par 152 and tied for 20th. Junior Anson Pan ascended three spots as well as he improved by four strokes on the second day, finishing with a 14-over-par 156 in 30th while senior Jack DeBenedetti raised three spots by shooting six strokes better than day one with his 16-over-par 158 in 36th.

Claiming victory in the team portion was Occidental College after the Tigers shot a combined 10-over-par 578 throughout the tournament as the squad shot an identical 5-over-par 289 on both days. 

Academy of Art will hit the course again on Monday, Mar. 4 in Pleasanton, Calif. at the Callippe Preserve Golf Course for the Nighthawk Invitational.