Lead by underclassman, team anything but green

Wednesday, April 22, 1998

Lead by underclassman, team anything but green

With five wins in 10 outings, UCLA eyes upcoming Pac-10
tourney

By Moin Salahuddin

Daily Bruin Contributor

"On fire": a term reserved for firefighters, matches, summer
days in Los Angeles and now the UCLA men’s golf team.

The Bruins captured their third straight tournament championship
last week at the prestigious Arizona State Thunderbird
Invitational. Competing against many of the top ranked teams in the
nation, including the No. 1 team in UNLV, UCLA used its recent
streak of victories to post yet another in its quest for a national
title.

Led by Brandon DiTullio, the Bruins used their immense balance,
depth and talent to crush their opposition, scoring a 54-hole total
of 867. They defeated the host Arizona State (870) by three strokes
and Oklahoma (871) by four.

DiTullio, a junior from Thousand Oaks, won medalist honors by
shooting an incredible five-under par 54-hole score of 211
(68-74-69) to defeat Oklahoma’s Kevin Muncrief by two strokes.

"This was DiTullio’s first win in his career here " UCLA head
coach Brad Sherfy said.

"He’s playing very well along with B.J. Schlagenhauf, who has
played outstanding throughout this season. (Jason) Semelsberger has
been consistently good. Our freshmen, Jeff McGraw and Ross
Fulgentis, (have been) stepping up when we need them."

The Bruins’ win at the ASU Invitational marked their third
straight win and fifth overall out of only 10 tournaments. As one
of the hottest teams in the nation, UCLA has won five of its last
seven tourneys and have peaked at the perfect time.

"I don’t expect to win anything beforehand but when you keep
plugging away, good things happen," said Sherfy. "And our guys
proved that, because when they are on, they can beat any team in
the nation."

UCLA’s next tournament will be the 1998 Pac-10 Championships,
held at the Orinda Country Club (hosted by Cal). With their recent
string of tournament wins, the Bruins hope to claim the Pac-10
title, the precursor to the NCAA West Regionals and NCAA
Championships.

"I think we have a good shot at winning the Pac-10 Championships
next week (April 27-29)," said Sherfy. "The pressure is on and I
hope our guys just go out there, hit their first drives, their next
shots and just go through their regular routines."

As the Bruins eye their quest for a Pac-10 and national title,
it should be noted that none of the UCLA starters are seniors,
leaving this team with great opportunities at claiming a national
championship within the next two years.

"You’ve got potentially the best team in the nation here at
UCLA," Sherfy said.