The UCLA men’s golf team begins its season this weekend with its first tournament, The Prestige at PGA West in La Quinta.
The first shotgun start will begin at 1 p.m. Sunday, with the subsequent rounds being played on Monday and Tuesday. The Bruins have not participated in the event for the past two years but have decided to make the trip up to Northern California to compete against some of the country’s elite teams.
The Bruins will begin their challenge by facing Washington, TCU and Notre Dame on Sunday. TCU was last year’s winner of the tournament, but UCLA has won the tournament 3 times in the past, from 2003-2005.
The Bruins will look to sophomore Gregor Main to continue his progress from last season and help the Bruins do well.
“I think for sure I’m looking for Gregor Main to have another great year,” coach Derek Freeman said. “The team needs him to step up.”
Sophomore Alex Kim and freshmen Mario Clemens, Pedro Figueiredo and Pontus Widegren will join Main in the team lineup this weekend.
Freeman said he sees potential leaders in some of his other players as well.
“Pontus and Pedro are both really good players that have played all over the world,” said Freeman. “I think they will step in and play well.”
Sophomore Beau Schoolcraft and freshman Bobby Lange will also compete in the tournament individually.
The Bruins will be facing some tough competitors, including Stanford University, one of the co-hosts of the event. In Golf Week’s preseason poll in September, the Cardinal was ranked first and the Bruins were ranked 15th, up from their ending position of 18th last season.
Yet Freeman said he takes little notice of the pre-season rankings.
“The thing with us is that no one really knows where we need to be,” said Freeman. “This is the first chance for us to prove where we need to be. This is our chance to prove ourselves against some of the best teams in the Pac-10.”
Because none of the current players were part of the 2008 national championship team, the Bruins are looking forward to a fresh start.
Yet the team seems to be living up to the UCLA tradition, taking on the challenging field early in the season. “With a young team it brings a lot of excitement,” Freeman said. “We have a lot of guys that are new to college golf, but they are not new to golf around the world.”