UCLA Sports Information Freshman John
Merrick tied for sixth place in the NCAA West Regionals,
finishing with a two-under par score of 214. NCAA West
Regionals 1. Arizona State 852 6. UCLA,
Oregon State, Stanford 881
By Pauline Vu
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
It was probably the strangest golf course the UCLA men’s
golf team has faced all year.
The problem at the Trysting Tree Golf Course in Oregon at this
weekend’s NCAA West Regionals was the rough. The rough, which
is the grass surrounding the fairways, is typically four- to
six-inches high in most tournaments. In big events, it might even
hit seven.
At the West Regionals, it was two to three feet high.
This didn’t bode well for those who hit their balls into
the rough.
“You would be lucky if you found your ball in the
rough,” said sophomore Travis Johnson, who added that there
were four volunteers at every hole whose main duty was to help
players find their golf balls. “If you did find it, you would
have to whack it out of two- to three-foot rough. It would take two
to three shots to get it back on the fairway.”
And still, despite playing on the toughest course they’ve
seen this season, the Bruin men’s golf team tied for sixth
place with a 17-over par total of 881 to claim a spot in next
week’s NCAA Championships. This will be UCLA’s first
trip since 1998.
According to the team, the reason for their success was because
they put brain over brawn.
When the Bruins first got to Trysting Tree for their practice
round, Head Coach Brad Sherfy took one look at the course and told
his team to check their egos at the door.
What he meant was that it wasn’t a course for taking out
drivers, which is typically the first club players use to hit the
ball off the tee. It was a course for taking out the 2-irons and
steadily chipping your way through the course.
It took a team effort ““ a promise among all five golfers
that they would forego flash for substance, forego the powerful
drives that would probably end up in the rough for the more
accurate hits of the 2-iron.
They agreed.
“There was a mutual agreement among all of us to back
off,” Johnson said.
But it wasn’t easy for guys who are used to playing
aggressively.
“A lot of the guys had to swallow their egos and say,
“˜I’m gonna be 20 to 30 yards behind the guys in my
group,'” junior Parker McLachlin said. He pointed out
that he got looks from other golfers because he was using his
2-iron more than his driver.
“The people you were playing with were wondering why you
were being so conservative, but we didn’t care,”
McLachlin added.
Especially since, by the end of the tournament, UCLA was among
the top 10 teams that made the cut to the NCAA Championships.
The Bruins were led by true freshman John Merrick, who had his
best tournament of the year. He shot 67 in the first round to lead
the entire field.
The next day, however, he shot 76, aided by two bogeys on his
first two holes, courtesy of the infamous rough. But he rebounded
in the final round with a 71 to tie for sixth place.
McLachlin came next (223 total, tie-38th), followed by Johnson
(224, T-49), sophomore J.T. Kohut (226, T-67) and freshman Steve
Conway (233, T-112).
The overall results could tell you how unusual this tournament
was, with No. 5 Arizona State and No. 7 Arizona taking first and
second place as expected, but No. 53 UCI and No. 54 Pacific
unexpectedly taking third and fourth. UCLA (No. 38 according to
Golfweek magazine) tied with No. 35 Stanford and No. 51 Oregon
State for sixth. Meanwhile teams like Pac-10 champion No. 13 USC
and No. 17 New Mexico, who have consistently beaten UCLA all year,
didn’t make the cut.
The Bruins figure this is because other teams weren’t
playing as smart as they were.
“I was surprised. I thought we had a good game plan and I
thought they’d catch on,” Merrick said. “It was
weird to see other teams not play as well as they should
have.”
According to Johnson, the tournament directors knew how tough
the competition would be and chose to make this particular
regionals harder with higher rough.
Don’t blame them. After all, when it comes down to crunch
time, you gotta separate the men from the boys ““ and those
who use their 2-irons from those who use their drivers.