Wednesday, 4/9/97
Young team weathers heavy competition
UCLA finishes fifth at Cleveland/ Southwestern tourney
By Chris Umpierre
Daily Bruin Contributor
A young and inexperienced UCLA men’s golf team was thrown to the
lions in a tournament that concluded Tuesday.
Despite some heavy competition at the Cleveland/Southwestern
Intercollegiate Tournament, the Bruins handled themselves quite
well and turned in a fifth-place finish on the North Ranch Country
Club golf course in Westlake Village.
"We are playing better. The freshmen are starting to put up some
low scores," head coach Brad Sherfy said.
The five-player traveling squad consisting of three freshmen and
two sophomores turned in some solid performances to lead the Bruins
to the team’s best performance since its third-place finish in the
Pioneer Electronics/Corey Pavin Invitational on Feb. 4.
"I don’t think there’s a younger team in the country," Sherfy
said.
The Bruins were once again led by true freshmen Steve Wagner,
who turned in his best performance of the year, as his
four-over-par shooting earned him a tie for 12th place. Wagner also
led the Bruins in the UC Irvine Anteater Invitational tournament
last week.
Wagner’s performance helped the Bruins outshoot two top-25 teams
in Westlake Village, as UCLA toppled seventh-ranked New Mexico and
No. 19 Brigham Young in the final team standings.
The performance was well timed, as the Bruins are currently
sitting on the bubble heading into the NCAA Regionals, beginning
May 28.
"We are borderline going into Regionals," Sherfy said. "We know
we have to step it up. We had our honeymoon and I think we are
responding."
Only 12 teams from each district are invited to the prestigious
NCAA Regionals and the Bruins are currently 14th in the District
VIII standings.
With three tournaments remaining, the Bruins will need to
continue their solid play to beat out some of the other teams who
are also vying to qualify for the Regionals. UCLA will get some an
opportunity to prove to the committee that they belong in
postseason play beginning April 18, when they go head-to-head
against Stanford and California in the Arizona State Thunderbird
Classic, with the Pac-10 championships soon to follow.
"I am pleased with how things our processing. Our [recent] play
is encouraging," Sherfy said.