Golfers shoot for spot on postseason roster

The UCLA men’s golf team completed its run in the Wyoming
Cowboy Classic on Tuesday, but the main competitors weren’t
the 20 other schools in the tournament ““ they were up and
down the Bruin lineup.

The tournament was the last chance for any of the Bruin golfers
to snatch the sixth and final spot on the team UCLA coach O.D.
Vincent will be sending to the Pac-10 Championship, which starts on
April 24.

“They know that a decision is coming and they know how
well they’re playing or how bad they’re playing
now,” assistant coach Gus Montaño said. “It was
definitely on their minds this week, but it’s all about that
competition of trying to make it to the postseason team.”

“The good thing is that they felt the pressure,”
Montaño said. “A few of them performed well and a few of
them struggled.”

Competing for a spot in the Pac-10 Championship had never become
an admitted distraction.

That is, until now.

The tournament was decisive for UCLA’s Blue team golfers:
James Lee, Peter Campbell, Matt Marshall, Craig Leslie and Brandon
Christianson.

“We were definitely competing against one another,”
said freshman Lee, who finished first for UCLA.

As a team, however, the Bruins played the worst they have played
all season, finishing the tournament in a tie for 10th place at
17-over par, an embarrassing 21 strokes behind tournament champions
New Mexico State.

“We gave up some big numbers that cost us. It was hard to
rebound,” Montaño said. “Fortunately, we were able
to regroup and play some good golf (in the last round), but
unfortunately it wasn’t enough to come close to the event
champion.”

This is the lowest finish the Blue team has had all season, and
it is second only to an 11th place finish by the Gold team back in
October of 2005.

Montaño believes that the end-of- season race for a
postseason has left the golfers trying to force holes, which often
leads to the opposite of the desired results.

Individually, aside from some good single-round performances,
the Bruins didn’t fare much better than the team as a whole,
and were lackluster at best.

Lee did well, finishing in a tie with 6 other golfers for 11th
place. He shot 1-over par and stayed consistent (68, 73, 70) in
three rounds.

Sophomore Campbell was one stroke behind Lee and stayed
similarly consistent in his tie for 12th place.

Leslie and Christianson, who were not so lucky, came in tied for
a 12-over par last place, ranking 79th .

“Everything was good except my game. I just could not
score,” Christianson said.

“There was definitely some stress and team pressure, but I
don’t think it was felt while we were playing so much as
before and after,” he said.

Although Vincent considers a variety of factors when making his
rosters, it is most likely that the top Bruin in this event will
get the honors.

This makes Lee the most likely choice; Campbell trails behind
him with a chance.

The UCLA Gold team has an event at Stanford next week, which
could also possibly open up a spot for a Blue team golfer.