Wednesday, November 12, 1997
Bruins garner tournament win at 49er’s Classic
RECAP With consecutive wins, top-10 status, team has reason for
optimism
By David Arnold
Daily Bruin Contributor
The fall campaign ended last week for the UCLA men’s golf team
with their second consecutive tournament win in the 49er Classic at
Virginia Country Club in Long Beach.
The Bruins, ranked No. 10 in the Mastercard poll, triumphed over
a field of 15 other West and Southwest teams – which boasted a
strong University of Texas, El Paso (UTEP) team, Long Beach State,
UC Irvine, Cal State Northridge and Fresno State – (Nov. 6-7) with
a three shot victory. The 848-shot finish, which was the team’s
best this season, included a season-best second round of 280, and a
four-shot lead going into the final.
Highlights included junior B.J. Schlagenhauf’s performance as he
swung for a career-best 54-hole score of a par 210, with two rounds
under 70. Schlagenhauf , the team leader in stroke average with a
71.4, came in third individually by achieving rounds of 69, 73 and
68. Also notable was the work of senior Eddy Lee who tied for
seventh, his best finish since his freshman season, with a one
under par 69 in the final round which was also a career best.
Sophomore Steve Wagner finished in a tie for 10th, junior
Brandon DiTullio (with a 72.6 stroke average) finished in a tie for
13th, and sophomore Jason Semelsberger tied for 17th to round out
the teams achievement.
"UTEP was probably the best team there," head coach Brad Sherfy
said of the team’s last tournament, until the Taylor Made Big
Island Classic in Hawaii that will feature such strong teams as
UNLV and USC on Feb. 13-15.
Between now and then, the Bruins, who entered the NCAA
Tournament for the first time in four years last season, cannot
officially practice as a team. But that doesn’t diminish Sherfy’s
optimism that his team’s good start will continue into the winter
campaign. "If we keep going the way we’re going things are going to
get better and better," Sherfy said, "We were ranked 60th in the
country two years ago, now we’re 10. That’s a great
improvement."
Sherfy has reason to be positive because his team’s consecutive
victories and top 10 ranking are the best record for UCLA since the
1984-85 season when the Bruins won 12 tournaments and were ranked
No. 1.
"Last year’s team was really young, and they’re still pretty
young now, but they’re more experienced," said Sherfy, referring to
the group that contains four of the five Bruins that went to the
nationals last year, and Semelsberger who qualified and played as
an amateur in the U.S. Open this year.
"Jason probably gained more experience (in two rounds) at the
U.S. Open than he will in all his years at UCLA," Sherfy said.
The Bruins will have a few months to savor the victory before
they begin tournament play again in February.