The Daily Californian » Alaina Getzenberg

Cal men’s golf hosts only home tournament of fall season at Sonoma Golf Club

Alaina Getzenberg — Tue, 15 Oct 2013 05:32:33 +0000

Gani Piñero/GoldenBearSports.com/Courtesy

2013 Alister MacKenzie Invitational Champions (from left to right: Associate head coach Walter Chun, Michael Weaver, Brandon Hagy, Pace Johnson, Brandon Hagy, Keelan Kilpatrick, Joël Stalter, head coach Steve Desimone).

Winning is not foreign to the Cal men’s golf team. Coming off of one of the most successful seasons in college golf history allowed the team to have tremendous confidence coming into the new year. Add the top player this year receiving a tremendous accolade last week and a huge victory in the team’s most recent tournament. There is clearly no denying that the Bears have it in themselves to win. The team will try to use this to its advantage when it hosts the Alister Mackenzie Invitational on Monday and Tuesday.

Cal will be hosting its only tournament of the season in Sonoma, Calif., at the Sonoma Golf Club. The tournament consists of 16 teams on a 7,103-yard course that is par-72. Teams taking part in the tournament include Pac-12 foes No. 23 Arizona State, Colorado, Oregon and Oregon State. Also competing in the event are local rivals USF, Fresno State and San Jose State.

Hosting the tournament adds a level of ease that makes it unique from any other.

“(Having) friendly faces at the tournament just makes you that more comfortable,” said senior Brandon Hagy.

The Bears are ranked No. 4 in the country, despite a dominant win a couple of weeks ago at the Jack Nicklaus Invitational in Ohio (281-280-281 – 842, -10). Cal finished the event 19 strokes ahead of second-place Oklahoma (No. 12).

Individually, Hagy (71-67-69 -207-6) ended the event in first place. His performance from that tournament and other tournaments this season led to him being named the Pac-12 Men’s Golfer of the Month for September. Hagy is the sixth Cal player in a row to receive this honor. He has a 69.4-stroke average and has medaled in each of the tournaments he has played in this season.

“The Pac-12 is the best golf conference in the country, so any time you win an award like that in a conference that is so competitive, it shows that a lot of the hard work I am putting in is paying off,” Hagy said.

Despite the confidence Cal feels coming into the event, the team will have some obstacles to overcome. Hagy is coming into the tournament at less than 100 percent after injuring his foot Wednesday night. Michael Kim was ill coming into the weekend and is unable to play in the tournament. Not having these top players in optimal health hurts the team.

“We have a lot of really good players on this team, but to lose last year’s National Player of the Year, the reigning Pac-12 player of the year and arguably the No. 1 player in the country, you got both of those guys out of your lineup — those are big holes to fill,” said head coach Steve Desimone.

Additionally, the Bears are hosting the event at the Sonoma Golf Club, as opposed to hosting it at the Meadow Club in Fairfax, Calif., where the tournament was held from 2002 to 2007 and 2009 to 2012. The team is not as familiar with this course, which may reduce the advantage of hosting the event.

Despite all of this, Desimone still has high expectations.

“I have a great deal of confidence they will be ready to go come Monday morning,” he said.

No matter what conditions the team plays in, confidence will be the key to victory.

Alaina Getzenberg covers golf. Contact her at agetzenberg@dailycal.org

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Cal women’s golf prepares for Pac-12 foes at Edean Ihlandfeldt Invitational

Alaina Getzenberg — Mon, 07 Oct 2013 07:13:59 +0000

It is no small challenge to play against your archrival and the No. 1 team in the country. Coming away with a victory seems almost impossible. The Cal women’s golf team will try to beat the odds when they travel to Washington to play in the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational.

The invitational is taking place Monday and Tuesday in Sammamish, Wash., at the Sahalee Country Club. It is being hosted by the University of Washington, which was ranked No. 1 in the country by GolfStat earlier this week. This tournament is especially important to the Bears, as they will be playing a number of Pac-12 teams, including Washington, Colorado, Oregon and Stanford. The Cardinal are coming into the tournament ranked No. 11 by GolfStat.

Cal will be playing superior opponents, according to these polls, and will have to play very well to secure a victory against the tough competition. The team, however, has plenty of reasons to be confident going into the event. The Bears were ranked nationally for the first time since the beginning of last season this week. Cal is ranked No. 17 and No. 25 in the nation by GolfStat and GolfWorld/WGCA, respectively.

The Bears are also coming off a first-place finish at the Ptarmigan Ram Classic in Colorado, which took place in early September. The win contributed to their new ranking, as they won the tournament with a nine-stroke lead. It was also a historic day for Cal in individual play, as junior Nicola Rossler (73-71-69, 213) finished the event with a score of 69, which tied her best Cal career score. Rossler ended the tournament in second place, which was a team best. Additionally, sophomore Carly Childs (73-72-70, 215) had the best tournament of her college career. Childs finished in fourth place at one under par.

Only time will tell whether Cal can rise to the challenge in historic fashion once again.

Alaina Getzenberg covers golf. Contact her at agetzenberg@dailycal.org

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Cal men’s golf heads to Ohio for the Jack Nicklaus Invitational

Alaina Getzenberg — Fri, 27 Sep 2013 05:58:07 +0000

Getting the first win of the season can relieve a lot of the pressure off of a team, but it takes more than that to prove that that team is the best in the country. That is exactly what the Cal men’s golf team will look to do this weekend at the Jack Nicklaus Invitational in Dublin, Ohio.
The Nicklaus Invitational, hosted by Ohio State, is a 54-hole event played at the Scarlet Golf Course on Sunday and Monday. Coming off an impressive victory of 30 strokes at the Saint Mary’s Invitational in Seaside, Calif., the team will look to continue its winning streak in Ohio.
No. 1 in the country after a spectacular 2012-13 season, despite losing in the semifinals of the NCAA Tournament to Illinois. Last year, the Bears won an unheard of 12 of 14 stroke-play events, breaking the previous single-season record.
“I think we want to prove that last year wasn’t just an anomaly and we can be one of the best teams again,” said senior Michael Weaver.
Cal retained some of the last year’s momentum, as five of the players from the 2012 starting team are still on the squad. This year, the players have a connection beyond simply being teammates.
“We push each other, we are competitive and we all just want to do well not just for ourselves but for the sake of the team,” Weaver said.
However, some of the success from last year’s team seemed to be missing in the first tournament of the year.
The Bears’ fourth-place finish at the Gopher Invitational in Independence, Minn., did not get the team rolling in the direction of continuing last year’s dominance. Weaver and Michael Kim, both first-team All-Americans and leaders from last year’s team, were not present at the event because they were playing in the Walker Cup — for the United States. In the absence of Weaver and Kim, second-team All-American Brandon Hagy led the team in the Gopher Invitational with a second-place individual finish.
With the return of Weaver and Kim, the team got a win much needed for morale at the Saint Mary’s Invitational. The Bears quickly showed why they were ranked No. 1 in the country and a glimmer of the previous year’s success, finishing 30 strokes better than second-place Oregon. Individually, Weaver came in a very close second place, one stroke behind San Diego’s Grant Forrest, with Brandon Hagy in a close third.
Ohio State is coming into the invitational off of a fourth-place tie with Purdue at the Windon Memorial in Illinois. The Buckeyes have gotten off to a slow start, as they earlier placed 10th in the Northern Intercollegiate. With their tremendous victory last week and Ohio State’s slow start to the season, the Bears figure to extend their winning streak and continue their steady improvement to last year’s caliber of play. The invitational will reveal whether the team can live up to the hype and continue its dominance.
“We have all been working hard over the summer and early this fall, so hopefully we can go to Ohio and play well and bring home another W,” Weaver said.

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