In the eyes of the men’s golf team, this weekend’s
regional competition is the first step to the national
championship.
“All the other tournaments have just been getting us
prepared for this tournament,” junior John Poucher said.
“For us, the national championship is a seven-round
tournament that begins in Oregon.”
Crosswater Golf Course in Bend, Ore. is the venue where the
Bruins will compete against 27 other teams this weekend in the NCAA
West Regional competition. The top 10 teams from each regional
competition (East, Central and West) will advance to the NCAA
Championships, which will be held June 1-4 in Hot Springs, Va.
UCLA has a slight advantage in this weekend’s competition,
entering the tournament with the No. 1 seed even though the Bruins
finished third in the Pac-10 championships behind Arizona and
Arizona State.
“I think those things are very opinion-driven,”
coach O.D. Vincent said of UCLA’s top seed. “I was
surprised we were chosen as the top seed, but a lot of times you
take breaks that go the other way, so we’ll take the good
breaks.”
Arizona, the conference champion, is seeded third in the
regional and Arizona State took the second slot.
But the Bruins are confident that the seeding is not an anomaly.
Last year the Bruins won the West Regional by one stroke and
finished a disappointing third in the NCAA Championship.
“We’re coming in with a year’s more
experience,” senior Travis Johnson said.
“Coming so close last year and having that taste left in
our mouths is still sitting sour, and that alone could, with our
hard work and talent, push us over the edge to win it
all.”
Johnson will enter as the team’s No. 1 player. Joining him
at the tournament are Steve Conway, who recently advanced to the
sectional qualifying round for the U.S. Open, John Merrick, Roy
Moon and Poucher.
At this point in the season, the Bruins believe they are ready.
But the tough Crosswater Golf Course will certainly pose a
challenge.
“We want to go into regionals to get some confidence and
momentum,” senior Roy Moon said. “The course will be
set up pretty tough, but it suits us pretty well.”
The time to peak is now. The team feels they’re ready, but
must prove it this weekend.
“It’s been a weird feeling throughout the whole
year,” Johnson said. “We haven’t played to our
full potential. I’m just waiting for us to kick it into first
gear.
“We’re letting it out in the last tournaments.
We’re ready now more than ever.”