Matt Paulson
Special to the Times
After a disappointing performance in last week’s Kingsmen Invitational leading into next week’s regional tournament in Texas, thoughts of a national berth have forged a permanent place in the University of La Verne golf team’s psyche.
The Leopards finished seventh out of 17 teams Mar. 21-22 at La Purisima Golf Course in Lompoc, shooting a 55-over-par 631 as a team.
The mark put ULV well behind tournament winner, Oakland-based Holy Names University, who shot a 606 and top Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference finisher Redlands University, which placed second with a 615.
“Obviously, we were disappointed with how we played as a team,” head coach Rex Huigens said. “It hurt us, but it wasn’t a death blow.”
The finish, although not abysmal, left ULV behind three SCIAC opponents – Redlands, California Lutheran University and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps – in addition to a strong Texas Lutheran University team, whom La Verne will see again next week in Texas.
In order to earn a berth to the national tournament, the Leopards must finish in the top three in their district, which includes Division III schools from Texas, Washington, Oregon and California, in other words all of SCIAC and more.
Huigens said he believes that Redlands has already secured a spot, and with a top-three finish next week, Texas Lutheran will be “pretty much a lock” leaving ULV fighting for the third spot with CMS and Cal Lutheran. A fourth-place finish in the district could earn an at-large bid, but few are available, and teams must compete nationally for them.
“It’s no doubt, we didn’t help ourselves, but we didn’t kill ourselves,” Huigens said. “Cal Lu and Claremont, we’ll have many other chances to play them.”
In fact, in addition to dual matches, two 18-hole conference tournaments and one 36-hole conference showdown remain.
ULV will face Claremont five more times and Cal Lutheran three more.
ULV beat Cal Lutheran in their dual match on Mar. 15, dropping the Kingsmen 296-302, with Nathan Logan’s much-needed 35-35—70 leading the way.
As for CMS, the Leopards will face them head-to-head less than a week after returning from Texas.
“I feel we definitely have the chance to (go to nationals),” freshman Chris Davis said. “It just has to fall into place. We can do it. It’s just a matter of everyone coming together on the same day.”
Davis’ 75-75—150 was the lone highlight for ULV at La Purisima.
A score that may seem relatively mediocre, but Davis’ card does not tell the entire story.
“Two 75s out there is like even par,” said senior Andrew Garcia, who shot 85 the first day but rallied to shoot 78 the second. “It was not a walk in the park. That course is a pain. There are so many tough holes. If you make a bad swing, it’s going to cost you a big number.”
Garcia said he made one triple-bogey and two double-bogeys on his first day and an additional two doubles on his second day.
The 7,000-yard test spewed numbers reminiscent of last year’s final round of the PGA Championship at Whistling Straits.
The overall average score for the two days came out to 81.24.
Of the 183 rounds played, four were par or better. Even Doug Green, ULV’s No. 1, shot a 25-over-par 84-85—169 to finish tied for 73rd. But Davis just plugged along, blissfully ignorant, playing “The Piranha” for the first time.
“I heard a lot of horror stories about it,” Davis said. “It was a course that if you made par, you made a good score. I’m not much of a player to go low, so I think it fit my game a little bit better than some of the other players.”
But despite their struggles at La Purisima, the Leopards remain optimistic about Texas and nationals.
“If we happen to play really good in Texas, and finish in the top three, then obviously, we’re going to help ourselves,” Huigens said.
“The golf course fits our game perfectly,” Logan said. “It’s a bomber golf course. We all hit it a long ways. Hopefully, we’ll go out there and drum everybody. That’s what we’re looking for.”
Matt Paulson can be reached at mpaulson@ulv.edu.
