Frosh golfer takes off for home, Bock steps back in

Frosh golfer takes off for home, Bock steps back in

Henge returns to Sweden as veteran player joins lineup

By Yoni Tamler

As the UCLA men’s golf team rolls into the heart of its spring
season, it is without one of their talented starters from last
fall.

Freshman Fredrik Henge was a highly touted import from Sweden,
where he had competed for the Swedish National Youth team. One of
only two true freshmen on the team, Henge started all of the fall
tournaments for the Bruins in 1994.

But the academic climate here at UCLA proved too much for the
Scandinavian youngster, who dropped out of school after the quarter
ended.

"(Henge) didn’t want to put that much time into school," UCLA
coach Dave Atchison said. "He was like your typical European
player, turning professional at a young age."

Atchison referred to current members of the pro tour such as
Britain’s Nick Faldo, who joined the tour as a teenager.

Little wonder the 1994-95 UCLA men’s golf media guide mentions
that Henge "admires the style of the legendary Seve Ballesteros."
Ballesteros is a native of Spain who, like Faldo, eschewed a higher
education, opting to join the professional ranks at age 18.

An upside to Henge’s premature departure was the spot vacated on
the starting squad. That position was filled by fifth-year senior
Brian Bock.

Bock started for the Bruins during his first three years at
UCLA, acquiring the most tournament experience of any returning
players on this year’s team.

Then last year, Bock redshirted, taking the year off to work on
his mechanics.

"I thought it would be a building year mentally, but it didn’t
turn out that way," Bock said. "I got too involved in other
extracurricular activities because I found it’s hard to remain
focused during your redshirt year."

Bock said that there were reason why he did not start until
February’s tournaments.

"Under pressure, I could never defuse the situation during the
competition for starters," he said. "I didn’t deserve to start, and
so I didn’t qualify."

Bock is now back in the starting lineup for UCLA, having
competed in his first two tournaments of the season last week in
Hawaii.

"Brian showed some good signs in both tournaments in Hawaii,"
Atchison said. "Besides being a great addition to the team, he is a
good person to step in ­ particularly at this point because he
brings so much enthusiasm with him."

The Bruins will count on Bock to help lead them back into the
NCAA tournament. Last year was the third time in the past six years
that the Bruins were unable to qualify for the tournament.

"My goals this year are to help UCLA finish in the top five in
the NCAAs and to get my scoring average under 73 strokes," said
Bock. "We have two really outstanding players in Eric Lohman and
Kevin Rhodes, and if I can start shooting low scores again, we’ll
have a great chance of succeeding in the NCAAs."