Tee times at first light. Bitterly cold mornings. Lightning-fast greens and narrow fairways.

Not exactly conditions for success.

However, the Cal men's golf team persevered in the face of that adversity with a third-place finish at the USC Collegiate Invitational, finishing 6-over at the North Ranch Country Club.

Each of the Bears' top five golfers shot at or below par in at least one of the tournament's three rounds, with senior Kent Yamane ending tied for eighth overall to lead Cal.

"I did my best to steer clear of the big numbers and luckily my short game saved me and ended up having a couple solid rounds," said Yamane, who put together rounds of 70-72-70 for a 1-under finish on the brutally difficult course.

Senior George Gandranata shot the Bears' best round on Monday with a 2-under 69 in the first round of play and finished the event at 4-over for an 18th-place individual finish. Sophomore Stephen Hale followed right behind Yamane, tallying a 2-over finish for the three rounds and taking 15th place individually.

Senior Michael Jensen carded a 1-under 70 on the final day of competition and freshman Jeff Hamm ended with a 1-over 72 and a tie for 60th playing as an individual.

"Looking back on this tournament we managed ourselves very well around the course," said Cal coach Steve Desimone, who was in high spirits after the Bears' highest finish of the season. "We were due to start making some putts after our first few tournaments and today we really came through with solid play from everyone."

Cal is officially ranked No. 27 in men's collegiate golf by GolfWeek, but Desimone believes the team ranking, record and overall morale will improve with a sustained focus on improving their short game.

The Bears need not forget the old golf adage "you swing for show and putt for dough," one of the perennial paradoxes in the game. Most golfers' Achilles' heels parallel that of Happy Gilmore-short game. The short game maintains such crucial value because only dedicated practice can yield even occasional success when faced with greenside subtleties.

Prior to the Invitational in Westlake Village, Calif., Desimone explained that the team would only find itself atop the leaderboard if it made a bold statement with its short game throughout the competition. After the final day of play, Desimone gazed at the leaderboard of the North Ranch Country Club in pride knowing that his team had done just that.

"As our short game continues to improve, we improve as a team," Desimone said. "If we remain committed to improving our ability to read greens and knock it close out of greenside bunkers, I believe we will continue to see positive consequences like we did this week."

With exceptional play out of all five Cal golfers in a field of top-ranked teams, there is an aura of achievement surrounding the players.

"Coming into the tournament, we thought we'd do pretty well," Yamane said. "But beating teams like USC (ranked No. 1 by GolfWeek) and (No. 7) Washington showed us we have the firepower to play with the best teams in the country."

The Bears will next make their way to Las Vegas, Nev., for the Southern Highlands Collegiate Championship beginning March 13.

Tags: CAL MEN'S GOLF, STEVE DESIMONE, KENT YAMANE, USC COLLEGIATE INVITATIONAL