He is the lone upperclassmen on his team.
He was the lone returner with any considerable varsity
experience.
He was expected to lead his team by example.
But for the past two tournaments, UCLA senior men’s golfer
John Poucher has been nowhere near the champion’s trophy.
He’s been nowhere near the tournament site, for that
matter.
A season removed from being an integral component on a
national-title contending team, Poucher now finds himself off the
traveling squad (Gold team), struggling to find his game.
Needless to say, the year has not gone as expected for Poucher
or his coach, O.D. Vincent.
“Yes, (I’m surprised),” Vincent said.
“I’m sure John is too. He’s had a lot of success,
but golf’s a game that’s cyclical.”
The decision to keep Poucher off the Gold team came after the
senior’s last tournament on Mar. 11-13, where he struggled
mightily. In that event, Poucher shot 83, 77 and 79 to finish in a
tie for 74th place, his worst scoring performance of the year.
At the tournament before that, held on famed Sawgrass Country
Club in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., Poucher shot a 7-over par 79 in
the second round en route to finishing tied for 19th.
In seven tournaments so far in the 2004-2005 season, Poucher has
yet to crack the top 10 on the leaderboard.
“He hasn’t played well for us,” Vincent said.
“He hasn’t hit it very well, hasn’t putted very
well. You get a little game.”
So while the Gold team recently returned from a fifth-place
finish in the ASU Thunderbird Invitational, in which the Bruins
sent two freshmen and three sophomores to compete, Poucher is
currently playing in Scottsdale, Ariz., with the Blue team,
searching to regain his form.
In Poucher’s absence, the underclassmen have grown, with
the team finishing in the top five in each of the last two
tournaments.
Still, Vincent is not completely satisfied, knowing that where
his team finishes every week is not as important as how much the
team grows.
“I think it was another frustrating event for us,”
Vincent said. “We were ultra, ultra spoiled last year with
our seniors. This year, it’s just not at that level.
“I expected a lot of challenges this year. It’s not
as important as where we finish as it is we do things the right
way. These players need to develop good habits for down the
road.”