Thursday, February 13, 1997
M. GOLF:
Young team battles tough greens and high winds, places sixthBy
Chris Umpierre
Daily Bruin Contributor
Coming off their best performance of the season, the UCLA men’s
golf team turned in another solid performance as they finished
sixth out of a 15-team field in the Mauna Kea Resort Collegiate
Golf Tournament.
The tournament, which was held on the Big Island of Hawaii and
concluded on Tuesday, was the first of a pair of tournaments the
team will play on the island.
After impressive third and sixth place finishes in the Pioneer
Electronics/Corey Pavin Invitational, the Bruins finished 29 shots
off first place Arkansas in the Mauna Kea Tournament.
The Bruins sent a young team to Hawaii with little international
experience. The team was comprised of two sophomores, two freshmen
and a junior. The par 72 course featured hostile Hawaiian winds and
tough Bermuda putting greens which only two of the five players on
the traveling team had prior experience playing on. Of those two
players, sophomores B.J. Schlagenhauf and Brandon DiTullio,
DiTullio put that experience to use as he turned in a great
performance by finishing in the top 10. He shot a 71.67 through
three rounds of play which included an amazing 67 in the third and
final round to finish sixth among all the players who participated.
It was DiTullio’s best performance of the year, outshooting his
seventh place performance in the USF Collegiate Invitational
earlier this year. Coming off his first Collegiate tournament
victory, Jason Semelsberger, a true freshmen, finished in 34th
place.
The Bruins will begin play in the 54 hole Taylor Made
Intercollegiate tournament, their second tournament in Hawaii,
today and will conclude the tournament on Friday. After playing in
the Mauna Kea Resort Collegiate Tournament, the team will have
gained more experience playing in the tough Hawaiian conditions and
could possibly put up some better numbers in their second
tournament in Hawaii.