After a tremendously successful 2002-2003 season, what could the
No. 2 UCLA men’s golf team possibly have in store for an
encore? If the performance in the team’s first two
tournaments is any indication, this year’s Bruin squad is
better, deeper, and hungrier.
UCLA got its season off on the right foot Saturday, with a
convincing victory at the Inverness Intercollegiate Invitational
held at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. The Bruins posted
a three-round score of 34-over par, finishing 10 shots ahead of
second-place Kansas State.Â
Senior John Merrick took home individual honors for the second
time in his collegiate career, compiling a 3-over par total to edge
out Toledo’s Brad Heaven by one shot.Â
Senior Steve Conway posted a top-10 finish with a 10-over par
for the tournament to land him in a tie for eighth
place. Junior John Poucher also had a successful tournament,
finishing tied for 13th place at 12-over par.Â
Following the tournament, the Bruins had only a day’s rest
before traveling to Hot Springs, Va., to compete in the Fall
Preview hosted by Virginia Tech at the Cascades Golf Resort, site
of the 2004 NCAA Men’s Golf Championship.
UCLA got off to a sluggish start in its first round Monday,
eventually finishing in a tie for seventh place at 14-over,
trailing defending-NCAA champion Clemson by seven shots.Â
After the round, the Bruins received news that the 54-hole
tournament was going to be shortened to 36 holes due to inclement
weather, limiting the amount of time they could erase the
seven-shot deficit.Â
However, 18 more holes is all they would need, as UCLA posted a
late charge to capture the Fall Preview by a single stroke over
Georgia Tech. The Bruins played the final three holes in 4-under
par to vault themselves from sixth place into first.
“We battled really hard,” Poucher said in a
statement. “We fought harder than any other team out there.
(Coach O.D. Vincent) reminded us (on the last three holes) to stay
focused and remain in the moment.”
Poucher earned medalist honors for the first time in his
collegiate career, finishing in first place with a 2-under par
performance. The last time two Bruins won individual honors in
consecutive tournaments was in 1985, when Duffy Waldorf and Roger
Gunn accomplished the feat.
“This was a huge victory for our team and for John
(Poucher),” Vincent said in a statement. “All of the
top teams were there and John proved he could play with all the
best players in the country.”
Senior Travis Johnson was the only other Bruin to finish in the
top-10, carding a 2-under par 68 in his second round to finish the
tournament at even-par.
Not since 1984 has a Bruin squad opened its season with two
consecutive tournament victories.