[Online Exclusive]: Despite youth, men's golf ranked No. 1 as it enters Pac-10s
By Gavin Chanin
April 23, 2006 9:00 p.m.
As the fifth-ranked UCLA men’s golf team heads into the
opening round of the Pac-10 Tournament, the team appears to be in
great shape.
The young Bruins will enter the tournament as the top-ranked
team, but will face vastly more experienced veteran teams that have
proven themselves in past championship tournaments.
But youth has not been much of a problem for this year’s
Bruins, who include three freshman, two sophomores and one
junior.
Bruin freshman Erik Flores, ranked at No. 9 in the nation by
GolfWeek, is now the highest-ranked golfer competing in the Pac-10s
this year.
UCLA as a team is also not something to be taken lightly. The
team has won an impressive 10 tournaments, placing them just three
wins away from tying a UCLA record. In contrast, the Bruins’
Pac-10 Championship team of 2004 had nine tournament wins.
“I think we’re ready to go. We’re going into
the Pac-10s prepared. This is a tournament that anyone can
win,” UCLA coach O.D. Vincent said.
“Rankings aside, there are five teams in our conference
that are better than their ranking and have a legitimate shot at
winning the championship. In terms of experience, UCLA is the
underdog.”
Vincent cited USC (ranked 20th), Washington (ranked 30th),
Stanford (ranked 45th), Arizona State (ranked 7th) and Arizona
(ranked 26th) as the five most dangerous teams in the
tournament.
Washington took the tournament last year and will be led again
by a seasoned group of golfers, including the 2005 Pac-10
individual champion Erik Olson and the 2005 NCAA individual
champion James Leep.
UCLA, however, is coming off the momentum of beating USC and
Stanford, two of their main rivals, in last week’s U.S.
Intercollegiate Tournament.
“We’re going to have to play really good to
win,” junior Chris Heintz said of their chances of winning
the Pac-10 Championship. “(But) if we play close to our best
golf, we should do it.”
Flores, the freshman leader of the team, had similar
thoughts.
“We think we have a really good chance to win (the
tournament),” he said. “We’re pretty anxious to
play.”
The Bruins will play two rounds of 18 holes today, followed by
one last round on Tuesday. The top five players of each six-man
team will be scored, and the champion team will be crowned after
Tuesday’s round.
