COURTNEY STEWART/Daily Bruin Junior Parker
McLachlin takes a swing during a tournament earlier this
season. MEN’S GOLF NCAA Regionals
Thursday-Saturday All day Corvallis, Ore.
By Pauline Vu
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
For guys who worried all season about whether or not they would
even make the NCAA Regionals, the UCLA men’s golf team is
pretty relaxed going into it.
“We’re excited, but we’re more business-like
about it,” said sophomore J.T. Kohut.
“There’s no difference about Regionals, it’s
just another tournament. If you perform you’re past, and if
you don’t perform, you stay home,” he added. “If
we just go out there and play to our abilities, I don’t think
there’ll be a problem.”
There’s a reason for that confidence. Compared to the
mediocre finishes of earlier tournaments this season, the Bruins
have shown some good play in the last two tournaments. At U.S.
Intercollegiates they surprised everyone with a third-place finish,
and at the Pac-10 Championships they came in fifth, aided by a low
second round of eight under par 347.
“We’re excited because we feel like we’re
peaking right now,” said junior Parker McLachlin. “Just
looking at our recent scores in tournaments and practice rounds and
stuff, we feel like all our games are coming into their
own.”
Sophomore Travis Johnson, who kept track of the team’s
scores in the last two weeks of practice, pointed out that out of
21 practice rounds they had ten under-par rounds.
Not only that, but the players are also succeeding as
individuals. McLachlin qualified through the first round of the
U.S. Open on Monday and has one more phase to go before he makes
the tournament. Johnson and freshman Steve Conway qualified last
Thursday for the California State Amateur, with Johnson shooting a
low round of 69. They will head to Pebble Beach to play this
summer.
But first, the five-man team, which includes freshman John
Merrick, has to deal with NCAA Regionals at Trysting Tree Course in
Corvallis, Ore. After that, the Bruins have NCAA Championships
““ if they place in the top ten at Regionals.
They’re confident about that, too.
Asked if he thought the team would make it, Johnson didn’t
hesitate before answering, “Oh, yeah.”
When asked if that was a guarantee, he hedged just a bit.
“I’m more one to to do the talking with my
club,” he said. “I’ll guarantee it when I get it
done.”