Success at regionals sends Bruins to championships

Tuesday, May 19, 1998

Success at regionals sends Bruins to championships

MEN’S GOLF: Seventh place qualifies team to shoot for second
national title

By Moin Salahuddin

Daily Bruin Contributor

Three national championships this season, going on four …
that’s what the men’s golf team is hoping for.

Trying to duplicate the feats of the men’s volleyball and soccer
teams, and the women’s water polo squad will not be easy. But the
Bruins have qualified for the NCAA Championships again, aiming for
their second national title ever.

UCLA qualified for the NCAA Championships by placing seventh at
the recent NCAA West Regionals. Despite some inconsistent play, the
Bruins were able to respond to the intense pressure. Firing rounds
of 288-293-295 (876), UCLA finished at 12 over par, only two shots
out of fourth place.

"It was a good result but we didn’t play well," UCLA head coach
Brad Sherfy said. "The team shot poorly on the front sides of each
round but they responded and shot great on the back sides. It’s
nice to know that when this team doesn’t play at its best, it still
makes it into the NCAA Championships."

New Mexico (858), Arizona State (858) and UNLV (861) dominated
the competition as they easily outdistanced the field by more than
10 strokes. California, Arizona, Oregon, UCLA, Fresno State and UC
Santa Barbara rounded out the top nine teams, all of which
qualified for the NCAA Championships.

"We’ve beat Arizona, Arizona State and New Mexico before,"
Sherfy said. "We’ve beat most of the other teams that made it in
from the other regionals. If we can go out there and play well, we
should be able to beat these teams again and contend for the
national title."

Leading the Bruins was the usual trio of juniors B.J.
Schlagenhauf (220), Brandon DiTullio (220) and sophomore Jason
Semelsberger (217). Freshmen Jeff McGraw (227) and Ross Fulgentis
(228) provided solid scoring for UCLA, continuing their stellar
play this season despite their little experience.

"Semelsberger was huge for us by shooting a 71 for the final
round. DiTullio and Schlagenhauf struggled at first but they came
back," Sherfy said. "The freshmen – McGraw and Fulgentis – played
well, especially McGraw, who shot two 73’s. I’m happy that our guys
came back, they showed a lot of heart."

The Bruins appeared to peak during the first round as they
played the Karsten Golf Course at even par, only one shot out of
first place. DiTullio and McGraw led UCLA by shooting one-under par
scores of 71. Schlagenhauf (72), Semelsberger (74) and Fulgentis
(75) performed well, catapulting the Bruins to the top of the
leader board.

Just like a roller coaster, when UCLA appeared to be at their
highest point, they seemed to drop. The second round tested the
Bruins, exposing some of their weaknesses. The Bruins fell to a
three-way tie for fourth place. DiTullio shot 71-71 to enter the
top 10 individually through two rounds.

However, the youthful squad responded during the final round as
they escaped with a coveted berth to the NCAA Championships. Led by
Semelsberger, who finished in a tie for 19th place, UCLA endured
some inconsistent play to finish seventh.

"We had some up-and-down play," Sherfy said. "You can look at it
two ways: First, we came back strong but second, we should be
taking care of business earlier so we don’t have as much pressure
on us."

The Bruins are attempting to duplicate what the 1988 UCLA men’s
golf team did. The 1988 team had a lineup similar to that of the
current team, one abundant with youth. That 1988 team came from 13
shots off the leader on the final day of the tournament to record
one of the great comebacks in NCAA golf history.

UCLA will try to win its second title at the NCAA Championships
in Albuquerque, N.M. from May 27-30. Thirty teams and six
individuals qualified for the tournament.

Competing from the central regional will be: Houston, Oklahoma,
Northwestern, TCU, Nebraska, Minnesota, Oklahoma State, Ohio State,
Miami (Ohio) and Kent.

Teams competing in the championship from the east regional are:
Georgia Tech, Clemson, Auburn, Georgia, Florida, North Carolina
State, North Carolina, South Carolina, Augusta State, East
Tennessee State and Southeastern Louisiana.

Some notable participants in the upcoming championship will be
Stanford’s Joel Kribel and Georgia Tech’s Matt Kuchar. Both played
in the 1998 Masters and both made the cut. Arizona’s Rory
Sabbatini, the No. 1 golfer in the nation, and defending NCAA
individual champion Charles Warren from Clemson are competing.

"There is going to be some great competition out there," Sherfy
said. "If we can play like we’ve had during the regular season, we
should give the top teams a run for their money."

But he added: "We’re definitely going out there to win the
tournament."