Thursday, April 30, 1998
Sun Devils manage to extinguish Bruins’ comeback
UCLA rises from seventh to second can’t secure Pac-10 title
By Moin Salahuddin
Daily Bruin Contributor
The Arizona State men’s golf team tried to pull off what the
UCLA men’s basketball team could not – a fourth straight Pac-10
Championship.
Unfortunately for the UCLA men’s golf team, ASU succeeded and
came from behind to edge the Bruins, 1444 to 1455 in four
rounds.
Showing the pride and talent needed to win during their last
three tournaments, the Bruins mounted a valiant effort in their
final two rounds. UCLA was in a dismal seventh-place tie after its
second round but outshot every team but ASU during the final two
rounds to finish second.
"We played great after a bad second round," said UCLA head coach
Brad Sherfy. "I’m happy at the way our team responded to that
round. It was a test and we performed very well after it."
While their second-place finish at the Pac-10 Championships did
break their three tournament winning streak, the Bruins were
ecstatic with their performances during the crucial, final two
rounds.
Leading UCLA were juniors B.J. Schlagenhauf (who led
individually after the first round with a 5-under par 67), Brandon
DiTullio, sophomores Jason Semelsberger and Steve Wagner, and two
fabulous freshmen in Jeff McGraw and Ross Fulgentis. Schlagenhauf,
DiTullio and McGraw all placed within the top 15 individually while
Semelsberger and Fulgentis provided strong finishing scores.
"From top to bottom, all of our players are real solid," Sherfy
said. "Everybody shot really well, but ASU was just on fire. I
think our guys are primed to be medalists."
The Bruins shot a 5-under par team score of 355 in the final
round as they passed all of the third-round leaders except for the
eventual champions, Arizona State. This was mainly due to the
amazing effort of Sun Devil Paul Casey who shot 134 (68-66) for his
final two rounds to ensure an individual and team title for the Sun
Devils.
The third round for the Bruins was nearly as magnificent, as
they shot a team total of 358. This resulted in the second-best
team performance of the day, behind only ASU (351). Fulgentis
recovered from a lackluster effort in the first two rounds to post
a three-under par score of 141 (72-69) in his final two rounds.
DiTullio matched this same feat, as both he and Fulgentis played
the final 36 holes worthy of a top-five performance.
The Bruins suffered through a horrendous second round of 378
while struggling toward a seventh place team finish. Despite
shooting the final two rounds in impressive fashion, UCLA likely
cost itself a shot at the conference title as Arizona State’s lead
was simply too much to overcome.
The next tournament for the Bruins’ golf team will be the NCAA
West Regionals. The Regionals will be held at Arizona State on a
course where the Bruins have experienced much success. Last week at
the ASU Invitational, UCLA won the team and individual (DiTullio)
championships by defeating the Sun Devils. The Bruins are aiming to
continue their recent hot streak and earn a qualifying spot for the
NCAA Championships.
"I feel like we’re playing well," Sherfy said. "We just have to
take it one step at a time and I’m sure we’ll be successful in the
future."