A No. 5 ranking, three first-place finishes, and a bright
outlook for the spring season are what the men’s golf team
had to walk away with as the fall season came to a close. On
Tuesday, the men’s golf team wrapped up the first half of its
year as the Blue Team tied for second place at the Bill Cullum
Intercollegiate, hosted by Cal State Northridge. The fifth-ranked
Bruins tied with Cal State San Marcos at 889 (+25), only 10 shots
behind the winner Holy Names University. Sophomore Kevin Chappell
led the way for the Bruins, shooting a 215 (-1), only four shots
behind the leader. With a final round score of 70 (-2), Chappell
finished the event in second place. Charles Chee of Holy Names won
with a total score of 211 (-5). “It was good to finish off
the year playing well,” Chappell said. “I kind of
struggled on the first day, but I got off to a good start (on the
final round), and it was a good experience for me to have a chance
to win.” Chappell was not the only Bruin to play well. His
teammates, sophomores Craig Leslie and Brandon Christianson, also
finished in the top 20 with scores of 222 (+6) and 226 (+10),
respectively. With a young core of athletes ““ three freshmen
and four sophomores ““ the finished fall season gave the team
a good opportunity to come together and start the season off on the
right note. “We had a very good fall overall. We were able to
play all 10 of our players, and everyone got an opportunity to get
in there. We have a young team, and we’re excited about the
improvement the guys have made,” coach O.D. Vincent said. In
the team’s six competitions this year, they have finished
first three times, with different golfers leading the way each
time. Freshman Erik Flores, junior Chris Heintz and sophomore
Daniel Im all have average scores of less than 72 per round of
golf. “We’re a very deep team. On any day of the week,
our No. 1 guy could easily lose to our No. 10 guy,” Chappell
said. But the real season has yet to begin. While the team’s
tremendous success early in the season has given them a great
amount of hope, there is still a lot to prove. “We have
proven that we can compete with the country’s best teams, but
you want to play the best golf at the end of the year. So we have
to make sure we pace ourselves to get to that goal,” Vincent
said.
MEN’S BASKETBALL: James Keefe, a forward
from Santa Margarita Catholic High School in Orange County, signed
a national letter of intent to attend UCLA, Bruins’
men’s basketball coach Ben Howland announced Wednesday. The
6-foot-8, 220-pound power forward is considered one of the
nation’s top forwards in Southern California.
“I’m elated that James is joining our program,”
Howland said. “He’s an outstanding player, a great
person and an excellent student. James plays hard, is an
outstanding rebounder, a good defender, and plays very
intelligently.” Keefe gave a verbal commitment very early as
a sophomore in 2003, and eventually signed on Wednesday, the first
day of the signing period that extends until Nov. 16. Keefe is
expected to provide some much-needed size for the Bruins, as senior
centers Michael Fey and Ryan Hollins will be gone after this
season. “His attitude and work ethic are going to help him
… get better and better, year in and year out,” Howland
said. Last season, Keefe led the Eagles to a 28-5 record and 17
points ““ and 12.2 rebounds-per-game averages. He is rated the
No. 37 prospect in the nation by the recruiting Web site
scout.com.
With reports from Sagar Parikh, Bruin Sports senior
staff.