Wednesday, 5/28/97 Bruins qualify for first time in four years
Inexperienced team to play in national championships despite
inconsistent season
By Chris Umpierre Daily Bruin Contributor On the eve of the
national championships, the UCLA men’s golf team is not discussing
strategies for the difficult Conway Farms golf course, and they are
not preparing for the coming tournament. Instead, they are cutting
off excessive school logos from their uniforms. If the Bruins are
able to make all the proper modifications of their uniforms, they
will partake, along with 29 other teams, in the 100th golf national
championships May 28-31 at Conway Farms Golf Club in Lake Forest,
Ill. Because UCLA hasn’t qualified for the national championships
since 1993, the coaching staff wasn’t aware that teams can only
have one school logo on each player’s uniform during championship
play, instead of the three or four logos each player had worn on
his uniform during the season. So both the coaches and players have
been left to furiously cut off the extra logos from their uniforms,
the night before the biggest tournament of the season. "It’s kind
of a pain," UCLA head coach Brad Sherfy said. "We have to address
it more seriously. We have to buy the clothes and get the uniforms
square before the tournament. But next year we will be prepared
with all the uniforms and equipment." Nevertheless, the Bruins are
excited to be in the championships. It’s the first time UCLA has
been represented in the final tournament of the year since its
17th-place finish in 1993. This year’s qualification in the
championships will move UCLA closer to national recognition, at the
level of well-recognized college programs, like UNLV and Oklahoma
State. "I think it’s a huge step," said Sherfy, who has been at the
helm of the team for two years. "Top recruits coming in want to
play for a team that is able to contend for the national
championships." It won’t just be recruiting that helps the program
because of this year’s qualification, but the experience the
players will gain because of it. (Of the starting five players none
have championship experience.) Sherfy added, "It’s like a tour
player who qualifies for the tour right away and then he falls off.
Because he’s comfortable doing it, he’s able to get back on the
tour." But just qualifying for the championships was an amazing
feat for the squad, since this season was supposed to be one for
rebuilding. With what Sherfy calls "the youngest team in the
country," the Bruins have been able to become consistent in the
latter part of the year, which ultimately culminated in a
championship berth. With no seniors on the squad, Sherfy has
started two true freshmen (Jason Semelsberger and Steve Wagner),
two sophomores (Brandon DiTullio and B.J. Schlagenhauf), and one
junior (Ben Bost) the entire year and will once again do so in the
championships. Because of their youth and inexperience, the Bruins
were plagued with inconsistency in the earlier part of the year.
The starting five would play well in two rounds and then falter in
one round to put them out of contention for a top finish. This was
the case in their 12th-place finish in the Fresno Lexus Classic,
their 17th-place performance in the TaylorMade Intercollegiate, and
11th-place finish in the Nike-Northwest Classic. Because of their
inconsistent play, the team was on the bubble for the West Regional
(the qualification tournament for the championships) the entire
year. But after a third-place finish in the Stanford Invitational
on April 26th, the Bruins bounced off the bubble and into the
regionals. With a No. 17 seed out of 18 teams in the regional, the
Bruins stunned the field with a sixth-place finish, which was good
enough for a trip to Illinois. Sherfy and the rest of the coaching
staff have always known this squad had the potential to put up low
scores, but they also knew it would take some time and experience
to do so every tournament. Even though the Bruins might have
abandoned their inconsistent play, their coach still believes they
haven’t reached their potential. "I think they are great players,"
Sherfy said. "At this stage, they don’t know how good they are."
After last night, the Bruins know they are good at cutting out team
logos. As for golf, their skill at that can only be proven in their
performance in the championships. * * * Many believe the race for
the championship will come down to two teams: UNLV and Oklahoma
State. The Running Rebels and Cowboys have been swapping the top
spot in the national rankings all season. UNLV is currently ranked
No. 1 while Oklahoma State is No. 2. History will be on the
Cowboys’ side in the tournament. Oklahoma State has won eight NCAA
golf titles, their last one coming in 1995, whereas UNLV has never
won a golf national championship. But because the Rebels won a
tournament on the Conway Farms golf course earlier in the season,
and they boast one of the most solid lineups in the nation (led by
Ted Oh, the No. 14 player in the nation), they are favored to beat
out the Cowboys and take home the men’s golf national championship
trophy this weekend. UCLA Sports Info Brandon DiTullio will lead
UCLA this week. Previous Daily Bruin story: Self-driven