By Sean Green
Daily Bruin Contributor
After a disappointing result at the Pac-10 Championships, the
No. 20 UCLA men’s golf team looks to redeem itself at the
NCAA West Regionals ““ a stepping stone to the national
championships.
“We have to finish in the top ten to earn a spot in
nationals,” head coach Brad Sherfy said.
But the team has even loftier goals.
“We have the mind-set to finish top five or even win the
tournament,” sophomore Parker McLachlin said.
The field will be as strong as any the Bruins have faced in this
season, so that won’t be an easy feat to accomplish.
But the Bruins will have five capable golfers playing at the
Riverbend Golf Course in Fresno, Calif.
Senior Brandon DiTullio leads the team in scoring average and
has played well all year. Last week he was selected to the
All-Pac-10 Second Team.
In addition, DiTullio has one victory this year and is the only
golfer to have all 34 of his rounds counted toward the team’s
score.
“He’s obviously a great player,” Sherfy said.
“But he is also a great student athlete and role
model.”
McLachlin ranks second on the team in scoring, but his recent
play has not been at the high level it had been early this
spring.
“I made a couple changes with my swing,” McLachlin
said. “I think I’m back to where I was
before.”
For his solid play, McLachlin earned All-Pac-10 honorable
mention for the first time.
Senior Jason Semelsberger did not really contribute to the
team’s success until the Southwestern Intercollegiates. There
he tied for eighth and began a streak of four consecutive top-25
finishes that is still intact. He also earned honorable mention
all-conference honors.
Freshman Travis Johnson has also been a huge factor lately for
the Bruins.
At the Pac-10 Championships, Johnson was in contention late in
the final round and finished in a tie for fifth.
“As a freshman, you start to get in a comfort zone toward
the end of the year,” McLachlin said. “That’s
where he’s at right now.”
Johnson was one of the four Bruins to earn all-conference honors
when he received honorable mention.
Junior Steve Wagner will also be making the trip with the
Bruins. He has shown signs of solid play in the three tournaments
he has competed in.
Wagner must fill an important role by contributing useable
scores everyday. Being forced to accept high scores has posed a
major problem for the team. If UCLA wants to move on, that cannot
happen.
“We basically need to finally play as a team,”
Johnson said. “We must get at least three guys shooting low
and the others playing decent.”
No. 7 Fresno State is hosting the event and looks to do what No.
4 Arizona State did at its home course ““ win the
tournament.
Realistically, UCLA is looking just to qualify for nationals
rather than to win the event. They have the capability to, just as
they have all year, but once again the challenge is getting four
guys to play well at the same time.
If the Bruins cannot make it happen, the Riverbend Golf Course
will be the last one the team sees this year.