UCLA men's golf team members waste no time getting back on course, with many playing summer amateur tournaments
Sophomore standout Patrick Cantlay was ranked the No. 1 amateur golfer in the country last year after finishing second in the NCAA championship.
Credit: UCLA Athletics
By Manny Redruello
Sept. 15, 2011 12:51 p.m.
For most college students around the country, summer is a time to kick back, relax and enjoy some time to themselves. Don’t count the UCLA men’s golf team as part of that group.
While the rest of UCLA was looking for open seats in Powell Library and cramming as much information as they could for June finals, the UCLA men’s golf team had to balance academics while competing in the NCAA Championships in Stillwater, Okla. Although the Bruins were the No. 1 seed heading into the final match play portion of the tournament, they finished eighth after an early loss to Duke.
With their season officially in the books, Bruin golfers wasted no time in getting back on the course as individual amateurs.
“They’re enjoying themselves and playing well and doing what they need to be doing,” said coach Derek Freeman.
“It’s good for them to get out on their own schedule, they do things how they want and it’s not a team setting. I think they enjoy their time away but they also look forward to coming back.”
Take sophomore Patrick Cantlay, who rose to be the No. 1-ranked amateur golfer in the country after a stellar freshman season.
After finishing second in the country at the NCAA Championships, Cantlay competed in the U.S. Open as an amateur, where he finished twentieth overall and first among amateurs.
Within a month, Cantlay played as an amateur at the Travelers Championship, the AT&T National, the Canadian Open and the SCGA Amateur Championship, where he took home first place.
Also competing in the SCGA Amateur Championship was senior Alex Shi Yup Kim, who finished seventh.
Despite the success Cantlay has seen as an amateur in PGA Tour events, he has repeatedly told numerous media outlets that he plans to graduate and complete his four years at UCLA before turning pro.
For teammate Gregor Main, however, that was not the case.
Main, who finished as one of the top Bruins in scoring last season, would have been a senior, but decided after the NCAA Championships to forego his final season as a Bruin and turn pro.
“I had been thinking about it all year long,” said Main, whose next tournament will be PGA Tour qualifying tournament. “I talked to (Freeman) months before I made the decision and we just felt like it was the best decision for me to turn pro.”
“I really enjoyed the time at UCLA, I met a lot of great people and built really good friendships within the team.”
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic Ocean, two Bruin golfers were busy competing against each other in amateur tournaments all over Europe.
Junior Pedro Figueiredo, who hails from Portugal, and junior Pontus Widegren, from Sweden, both went home for the summer and continued to compete in Europe’s most prestigious amateur tournaments.
“In the European Championship, I was with Pontus,” Figueiredo said. “He played for Sweden and I played for Portugal. I didn’t play against him, but we saw each other there.”
Widegren and Cantlay had already competed against each other in the Palmer Cup in June, which pits Europe’s top amateurs against the top amateurs from the United States.
Cantlay helped lead the American team to victory in the tournament.
Although scattered across different continents throughout the summer, five Bruin golfers were able to come together and post strong numbers at the U.S. Amateur tournament at the end of August.
These strong performances across the globe surely justify the Bruins’ No. 1 pre-season ranking.
With a team that lost only two golfers, Main and Connor Driscoll, and added three capable freshmen, the Bruins should have no problem building upon last year’s success.
“Whether we’re ranked No. 1 in the beginning of the season or ranked No. 10 in the beginning of the season, our goals don’t change,” Freeman said.
“We’re trying to become the best possible golf team we can every single week, and we have to work hard. We’re trying to do everything we can to make sure we get better every day.”
And if getting better every day means never taking time away from the game, then the Bruins should be more than able to meet Freeman’s goal.
