1. TEXAS 893 11. UCLA 928
By Suzanne Cabral
Daily Bruin Contributor
Battling 50-60 mile per hour gusts of wind this weekend, the
Bruins breezed to 11th place out of 24 teams at the TaylorMade Big
Island Classic, hosted by the University of Hawaii-Hilo at the
Waikoloa Resort.
UCLA finished with a team total of 928, 72-over-par, gaining a
spot ahead of Cal State Bakersfield by three strokes and behind
Nevada by two.
The Bruins also finished ahead of regional rivals Pepperdine and
Oregon State, but behind Arizona State and USC.
Texas took home the title with a team score of 893, 37-over-par.
The top individual winner was Sprague Kolp of Nevada, who scored a
217, 3-over-par.
Junior Parker McLachlin was pleased with the team’s
performance this weekend.
“It’s something to build on,” he said.
“But we could have done better.”
Freshman John Merrick also felt the team could have performed
better.
“It was a mediocre tournament for us, but we beat a few
teams we wanted to beat and everything seems on the up and
up,” he said.
The weather conditions in Hawaii were highly responsible for
disturbing the outcome of the tournament and the way Bruins
competed. With the strong winds, it was hard to keep the ball from
rolling off the green.
Georgia Tech, No. 3 in the nation, tied for eighth with No. 43
Washington, and the winds were thought to be responsible for such
an upset.
“Because of the high winds, the way the teams finished had
no relation to how good they really are,” sophomore Travis
Johnson said.
For Merrick, the winds were a learning experience. “The
conditions were tough and very windy, but I think it is good
experience to play in that kind of weather.”
Johnson said he was “just really happy to not have gotten
blown off the island.”
Despite the winds, McLachlin and Johnson still ranked highly
individually.
McLachlin tied for 10th out of 120 players with a score of 224,
10-over-par. Johnson finished at 227, 13-over-par and tied for 19th
place.
McLachlin attributes his good finish to participating in his
home state.
“It was good to see my parents,” he said.
“And, being at home kind of affected the way I
played.”
Johnson did better than he anticipated due to some back pain he
experienced at the beginning of the tournament. In the last round
on what he called the toughest, biggest courses all year,
Johnson’s back felt better and the winds died down.
“I knew it was my time to capitalize,” he said.
The Bruins are currently 10th out of 12 teams listed to go to
NCAA Regionals in May, but they are still looking to improve as the
season progresses to ensure a definite spot.
“We cannot keep being a young team,” McLachlin said.
His team has only two seniors. “We need to start shaping up
and some of the younger players really need to step up.”
The team gets a chance to do this in March at the Southwestern
Intercollegiates Tournament at the North Ranch Country Club in
Westlake Village, Calif.