Monday, February 10, 1997
M. GOLF:
National recognition nearing for UCLA squad after top-10 finish
at Industry HillsBy Chris Umpierre
Daily Bruin Contributor
The UCLA men’s golf team took its first steps toward achieving
national recognition with its performance in the Pioneer
Electronics/Corey Pavin Invitational tournament last week in
Industry Hills.
"It’s like putting a young racehorse in a race," UCLA head coach
Brad Sherfy said. "He’s got to learn how to get out of the gate.
He’s got to do his workouts. He’s got to learn to carry the weight.
He’s got to learn a few things but you know you have a good guy and
that’s what we got, we know we have a good team."
Sherfy’s Bruins finished third and sixth in the Pioneer
Electronics/Corey Pavin Invitational as two UCLA teams were entered
into the 12-team field. Leading the Bruins was freshman Jason
Semelsberger.
Semelsberger took home individual honors for the tournament. It
was the Bruins’ highest individual finish of the season to date as
he averaged 74 through three rounds of play on the par-71
course.
Semelsberger, who had only played in two previous college
tournaments, shot an amazing 71 in the last round to outshoot Rob
Manor of the University of Texas, El Paso, by one shot.
"This Industry Hills golf course is brutally tough," Sherfy
said. "The year Duffy Waldorf (who played at UCLA and is currently
on the PGA Tour) won player of the year, he shot a 91 (on the
Industry Hills golf course). That gives you some indication as to
the difficulty of that golf course."
Semelsberger and the rest of the team will now play in a pair of
tournaments in Hawaii which will be held throughout this week.
UCLA began play in the Mauna Kea Collegiate tournament Sunday
and will continue through Tuesday. The golf team will pick up the
clubs again as they begin another tournament, the Taylor
Intercollegiate, on Thursday. It lasts through Saturday.
The Bruins will send two sophomores, a junior and two freshmen
to the islands of Hawaii. B.J. Schlagenhauf, Brandon DiTullio, Ben
Bost, Semelsberger and Steve Wagner will play on the very difficult
Hawaiian courses.
The golf team will be faced with adverse winds and difficult
Bermuda-grass greens during its stay in Hawaii. UCLA will be tested
by teams who have players with more national experience and who
better understand how to deal with the wind or putt on Bermuda
greens.
"We just took that first step," Sherfy said. "We have to give
them a little time to do good things. They are going to do good
things, believe me; in the next couple of years they are going to
do very good things. We have to wait and let them progress."