UCLA Sports Information Senior Parker
McLachlin is one of the team’s top returners.
By Pauline Vu
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
After last year’s NCAA Regionals, in which the UCLA
men’s golf team missed earning a berth to NCAA Championships
by just four strokes, Parker McLachlin was quiet.
“It hurt a lot,” McLachlin said afterward. “A
lot of practice and a lot of time was put in, and to only miss it
by a few shots ““ it makes you wonder why you did all that
practicing.”
Well, it’s a new season, and McLachlin is back on a team
determined to avoid the great disappointment of 2000.
“The last two years we’ve missed it by about two
shots,” head coach Brad Sherfy said. “Everybody has a
concern; they want to turn this around.”
Including McLachlin, a junior, the team consists of two seniors,
two sophomores and four freshmen. Through UCLA’s first two
tournaments, seven of the players have already gotten a chance to
compete.
At the first tournament, the Northwest Collegiate Classic, the
youth of the team represented UCLA, with three freshmen and two
sophomores helping the unranked Bruins to an eighth-place finish
(out of 18 teams).
MEN’S GOLF SCHEDULE This schedule only lists
the men’s fall schedule. Â Date
Opponent / Tournament 09/11-09/12 09/18-09/19
09/22-09/26
10-06-10/08
11/06-11/07
@ Nike Northwest Classic @ Inverness Intercollegiate
   – Kent University @ Husky Invitational @ Carpet
Capital    – Georgia Tech @ Prestige  SOURCE:
Sports Info (schedule is tentative) Original by JACOB LIAO/Daily
Bruin Web Adaptation by HERNANE TABAY/Daily Bruin Senior Staff The
Bruin men showed tenacity early on. At the Northwest they found
themselves in 13th place after two rounds, yet clawed their way up
to claim eighth by the end of the event.
True freshman Steve Conway led the Bruins and finished the
tournament in a tie for 11th. He made the greatest improvement,
shooting rounds of 70 and 74 in the first two days, but shooting a
64 the final day to move from 42nd place to 11th.
“That’s a phenomenal round,” Sherfy said.
“That’s the lowest score we’ve had since B.J.
Schlagenhauf (’99) shot a 64.”
Sophomore Travis Johnson was UCLA’s second finisher, tying
for 25th. Freshmen John Merrick (T-33), Roy Moon (T-71) and J.T.
Kohut (T-74) rounded out the players.
By the next week and the Inverness Invitational in Ohio, that
roster became two freshmen, one sophomore, one junior and one
senior.
McLachlin, who didn’t go to the Northwest because he
needed to finish summer school, made the trip to Ohio along with
Johnson, Conway, Merrick and senior Ross Fulgentis.
There the Bruins finished sixth out of 13 teams. McLachlin and
Johnson tied for 13th place. Merrick and Fulgentis tied for 27th,
and Conway tied for 37th.
MASTERCARD COLLEGIATE GOLF POLL This poll for
men’s golf was last updated 09/06/2000. Â Â 1.
Clemson 2. Georgia 3. Georgia Tech 4. Arizona State 5. Houston 6.
Arizona 7. UNLV 8. Oklahoma State 9. Texas 10. Northwestern 11.
Florida 12. New Mexico 13. TCU 14. Wake Forest 15. Augusta State
16. South Carolina 17. North Florida 18. Auburn 19. Brigham Young
20. Kent State  SOURCE: www.espn.com *poll data
updated 10/04/2000 Original by JACOB LIAO/Daily Bruin Web
Adaptation by HERNANE TABAY/Daily Bruin Senior Staff
“We finished terribly and made youthful mistakes,”
Sherfy said. “We had guys play the backside (last nine holes)
poorly. They’ve got to finish it off.”
At the helm is Sherfy, whose playing condition is as strong as
his coaching condition. Last summer he played in his fourth PGA
Championship.
The team’s top golfer is McLachlin. Last year in 12
tournaments, he had four top-10 finishes and six top-20 finishes.
“Parker’s got a pretty good chance of being an
All-American,” Sherfy said.
Johnson, last year’s freshman sensation who earned Pac-10
Honorable Mention, won the Long Beach Match Play tournament this
summer. He also qualified for and played in the U.S. Amateur.
Over the summer Conway tied for second at the Nabisco Legendary
Headwear Tournament. He also tied for sixth at the AJGA Rolex
tournament. Merrick tied Conway at the Rolex event and qualified
for the U.S. Amateur. There, he advanced to the second round of
match play.
So far, the team is unranked according to the Mastercard
Intercollegiate poll.
“That’s just the way it goes. By the end of the
year, you’re gonna see us there,” Sherfy said.
This team has high expectations. They expect to redeem last
year’s four stroke loss and, this time, make it to the
National Championship.
“It’s about time to turn it around,” Sherfy
said again. “I think we have the guns to do that.”