With a little more than two months until its next tournament, the UCLA men’s golf team used its short offseason to hit the recruiting trail. The Bruins ended their courtship of local talent on Monday, nabbing their first, and likely last, pair of signees for the 2010 season.
Patrick Cantlay and Anton Arboleda, both highly sought-after players, have committed to play for the Bruins and will enroll at UCLA in the fall of 2010.
“These guys were recruited by teams all over the country. They have a lot of experience both nationally and locally and they both had really great summers,” coach Derek Freeman said.
Cantlay, out of Anaheim’s Servite High School, is nationally ranked as the No. 4 player in his class by Golfweek magazine and was named the 2009 Boys Golfer of the Year by the OC Register. He took home the 2009 CIF Southern Section individual title and was a two-time first team American Junior Golf Association All-American. He also played in last summer’s U.S. Amateur and U.S. Junior Amateur tournaments.
Arboleda, a senior at La Canada High School, is currently No. 15 in his class. He placed second at the 2009 U.S. Junior Amateurs and has recorded five top 20 finishes in AJGA tournaments since April. He also received AJGA All-American honorable mention accolades.
“(Anton’s) brothers and sisters went to UCLA and he’s always been a UCLA fan,” assistant coach Ryan Ressa said. “He really came on strong and started playing well this summer and we knew we wanted him on the team.”
Coach Freeman said he was pleased with the local signees and anticipates their arrival in Westwood next fall.
“(Cantlay and Arboleda) are great players and we’re very happy they’re here,” he said. “They’re continuing our rich tradition of having great southern California players come to UCLA.”