Say cheese. The members of the No. 3 UCLA men’s golf team
did so and then some, posing for an unorthodox photo spread in this
month’s edition of Golf Digest as a tribute to the new
caliber of athletes hitting the links. The Bruins, selected out of
all the collegiate teams in the country because they collectively
exemplify this new kind of golfer, were featured in two sprawling
group photos that have caused some stir. In one photo, the players
are posing shirtless while wearing shorts with a UCLA emblem. In
another more provocative photo, the players are holding a bucket of
driving range balls in nothing but their birthday suits. It’s
the latter photo that has generated most of the responses thus far.
“In golf, these guys are wearing pants and shirts the whole
time as opposed to divers and swimmers where more of their bodies
are exposed, so it’s a little different to see golfers in
that light,” UCLA coach O.D. Vincent said. “We’re
pushing the envelope, and anytime you do that, it’s going to
be met with resistance in some places. But everything has been
pretty positive so far,” he said. Ironically, the decision to
participate in the piece was much more difficult for Vincent than
his players. Though he wasn’t the one that was posing
“full monty” for the camera, Vincent had to consider
the advantages of taking up the magazine’s offer ““
mainly the free publicity and establishing UCLA as the team of the
new generation. At the same time, he had to mull over the possible
drawbacks one could expect while representing a university.
“You can’t buy that type of publicity,” said
Vincent, referring to Golf Digest’s 5 million readers.
“When (the university) heard about what it might look like,
there was a bit of apprehension and there was definitely some
requests to the magazine to not run the picture or minimize the
picture, which they obviously decided against. “We definitely
weren’t trying to send a negative message or put our
institution in a bad light.” For the players, the choice was
a bit easier. Though for the majority of the year they are immersed
in a strict training regiment, they still are constantly harassed
with having to answer the question as to why golfers need to work
out and train. According to the players, the reputation that
precedes golfers is no longer applicable in the modern game.
Participating in the photos was one way to answer those questions
and rebuff the claim that you don’t need to be athletic to
play golf. “I just want the message to get across that to
play golf now, you actually have to be fit,” senior Roy Moon
said. “It’s pretty surprising when people ask,
“˜Why does the golf team have to work out?’ Playing 36
holes and playing the amount of days we do play is pretty hard. In
the next ten years, those players (that don’t train) will be
weeded out.” Golf Digest chose junior John Poucher to
highlight the piece. Poucher’s picture is on the front cover
of the magazine, something unbeknownst to him until he picked up
his copy earlier this month. “It was very exciting,”
Poucher said. “It was awesome and a great honor.”
U.S. OPEN QUALIFYING: Senior Steve Conway
advanced to the sectional qualifying for the U.S. Open by firing a
5-under par 67 in local qualifying at Newport Beach Country Club on
May 12. If Conway places in the top two spots in sectional
qualifying, he will have punched his ticket to Shinnecock Hills in
New York, site of the 2004 U.S. Open. One of the people Conway beat
out at Newport was his coach, O.D. Vincent. Vincent, who was
feeling the pressure of representing UCLA, shot a 69, missing out
on a chance at a playoff by one stroke. “There’s a lot
of eyes on you as the coach of UCLA and the pressure was on,”
Vincent said. “I was nervous on the first tee. I shot 69, and
felt badly having a UCLA bag and representing the school and not
making it through.” After his round, Vincent, who was playing
a few groups in front of Conway, went back to what he does best
““ coaching. “When I finished I went back out and
watched Steve finish,” Vincent said. “I wanted to make
sure he had an idea where the scores stood at that point so he was
making the right decisions down the stretch.”
PLAYING HURT: Senior Travis Johnson injured his
back last week at the Northwest Shootout held on Crosswater Golf
Course in Bend, Ore., site of the NCAA West Regional. Johnson was
forced to withdraw from that tournament, but is slotted to be the
No. 1 starter for the upcoming regional on Thursday. “His
back got really sore from overuse and lots of traveling back in
Sunriver (golf course), which is why he couldn’t finish the
second round of that event,” Vincent said. “With the
proper amount of rest and treatment, he’ll be fine.” As
an extra precaution, the team will send a trainer to Oregon to
monitor Johnson’s back.