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For most teams, winning a golf tournament without a top player is inconceivable. For the Cal men’s golf team, the top player happens to be the 2012-13 National Player of the Year, Michael Kim. But the Cal men’s golf team is no ordinary team.

The Bears came into the Alister MacKenzie Invitational on Monday and Tuesday at the Sonoma Golf Club in Sonoma, Calif., nowhere close to 100 percent. Kim sat out due to illness, and the recently crowned Pac-12 player of the month, Brandon Hagy (70-64-72 – 206, -10), was playing through a foot injury. Despite this, Cal (268-273-284 – 825, -39) had three players in the top five once again, leading to a dominant victory.

“It’s very clear that we have seven or eight players that can play at the highest levels in college,” said coach Steve Desimone. “It gives us confidence and security that we can move down through the lineup and not drop off.”

Led by Joel Stalter (64-69-70 – 203, -13) who took home top individual honors, Cal rolled over second-place UC Davis (286-284-277 – 847, -17) by an overwhelming margin of 22 strokes. Oregon State (287-283-280 – 850, -14) and No. 21 Arizona State (281-281-289 – 851, -13) stayed true to their rankings, placing third and fourth, respectively.

Numerous Cal players have stepped up their play over the course of the season. Last week, Hagy led the Bears to victory with a first-place finish at the Jack Nicklaus Invitational. This week, it was Kim’s replacement and another All-American, Stalter. Stalter got off to a hot start, drilling five consecutive birdies. He proceeded to hit back-to-back birdies on the par-4 ninth and 10th holes, giving him a 64-stroke first-round performance, one stroke shy of his collegiate best.

Stalter’s second round featured four birdies and only one bogey, giving him the lead going into the second day of play ahead of teammates Hagy and Pace Johnson (66-68-71 – 205, -11) by one stroke. He began the third round shakily with a bogey on the first hole, but he followed it up with back-to-back birdies on the par-4 second hole and par-5 third hole. Although he hit only two more birdies, along with a bogey, he finished the round with a score of 70, giving him the first-place finish.

“I was just really consistent, and my putting was really good, so that helped me score,” Stalter said. “But I was driving the ball really well, too, so that helped me get in good position.”

Johnson’s first round was the model of consistency, featuring six birdies with no bogeys. His second round was almost as impressive, with five birdies and only one bogey, on the par-4 sixth hole. But his second day of play was not nearly as steady; he posted only four birdies, with a bogey and a double-bogey on the par-3 14th hole.

Hagy continued the excellent play that won him the Pac-12 Player of the Month award. After a subpar first round, he played one of the best stretches of golf in his collegiate career, starting with an eagle on the par-5 eighth hole. He went on to nail three consecutive birdies starting on the 10th hole and back-to-back birdies on the par-4 14th hole and par-5 15th hole. His back nine featured five birdies and no bogeys.

“They do so many things well, but overall, it was not a great ball-striking performance,” Desimone said. “We did have a great short game and really good putting, though.”

In the lineup for the first time in two years was Keelan Kilpatrick (76-72-72 – 220, +4), who failed to produce for Cal. He came in at 48th place and suffered from a horrid first round featuring seven bogeys.

Michael Weaver (68-73-71 – 212, -4) finished in 12th place after playing at par in the second and third rounds. He played his best in the first round, highlighted by his four birdies, including an eagle on the par-4 11th hole.

“We have five, six guys that can win a golf tournament, so we’re really deep,” Stalter said. “That’s our biggest strength, and that’s why we’re ranked so high.”

Winston Cho covers golf. Contact him at wcho@dailycal.org

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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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Victoria Chow/File

Last season’s National Player of the Year, Michael Kim (72-76-70 – 218, +5), had 11 bogeys in the first two rounds alone, capping off a miserable first day of play. All-American Michael Weaver (71-73-73 – 217, +4) did not fare much better, with 10 bogeys and two double-bogeys.

Despite this, Cal (281-280-281 – 842, -10) rolled over the competition to place first at the Jack Nicklaus Invitational at the Scarlet Golf Course in Dublin, Ohio, on Sunday and Monday. Cal relied on a strong team performance, with four players placing in the top 10. Leading was Brandon Hagy (71-67-69 – 207, -6), who took home top individual honors for the second time in his career.

Cal continued its dominant streak, trouncing the second-place team, Oklahoma (293-298-286 – 877, +25), by 19 strokes after a similarly impressive performance at the St. Mary’s Invitational, where the team won by 30 strokes. This win is the 20th time in the last 31 tournaments dating back to the 2011-12 season that Cal has taken first place in a stroke-play event. No. 23 Kent State (288-282-284 – 854, -10) and No. 24 Mississippi State (300-292-299 – 891, +39) finished fourth and sixth, respectively, while the host team, Ohio State (299-299-301 – 899, +47), took eighth place.

“The greens were very tough,” said coach Steve Desimone. “You just got to play the entire game.You gotta hit it, chip it and putt it well. You name it: You got to do it. You have to have depth in your game.”

Hagy, who has placed in the top three in each tournament this year, continued his excellent play by drilling 12 birdies over three rounds. He finished the first round at par but followed it up with a score of 67 in the second round, tied for the lowest score of the day. He nailed back-to-back birdies on the par-5 12th and par-3 13th holes. Hagy capped off his tournament-leading play with a 69-stroke performance in the third and final round, good enough for first-place honors.

“I read the greens well, and my speed was really good the whole day,” Hagy said. “The putts I made were all kind of falling with good speed.”

Shotaro Ban (68-72-72 – 212, -1) had the best first round of all the Bears, with a 68-stroke performance, highlighted by five consecutive birdies from the fourth to eighth holes. But his back nine were not nearly as good, as he had a bogey and a double-bogey on the par-4 11th hole.

Pace Johnson (71-68-70 – 209, -4) had the best finish of his collegiate career, with a third-place finish, and shot consistently well each round, topping off an impressive three rounds of play with 14 birdies, including back-to-back birdies in the first and third round. He held the lead over Taylor Pendrith (67-73-68 – 208, -5) of Kent State going into the third round. Johnson nearly took second-place honors, but Pendrith hit consecutive birdies on the 12th, 13th and 14th holes, and Johnson finished poorly with bogeys on the two final holes.

“We did a lot of things right,” Desimone said. “We did what we needed to do. We executed beautifully. This was one of the good ones.”

Winston Cho covers golf. Contact him at wcho@dailycal.org

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In any other year, Cal rugby would have taken the spot as the best Cal sport. It’s hard to argue with a track record that includes 26 championships since 1980.

But not this year.

The Cal men’s golf team had one of the greatest seasons of all time. In any sport. Ever.

The team’s 11 tournament wins are the most in collegiate golf history, breaking a record that has stood since the 1970s. There are only 13 tournaments in the entire year. The team dominated the rankings, remaining at the No. 1 spot in the country for nearly the entire season.

It’s hard to even fathom those numbers, much less argue against them.

And the squad was loaded with star power. Michael Kim won the Haskins award and the Jack Nicklaus award, each naming him the top golfer in the country. The rising junior was also ranked at the top spot by Golfweek and had the lowest stroke average in the country heading into the NCAA championship.

Then there are Michael Weaver, Joel Stalter and Max Homa — who rank at No. 11, No. 12 and No. 13, respectively. And let’s not forget Brandon Hagy at No. 19. Rankings aren’t everything, of course, but that kind of depth is unbelievable. Only Alabama can come close in numbers, and the Crimson Tide went 0-4 against the Bears in the regular season.

The only black mark on the team, of course, was the NCAA Championship. The Bears were the overwhelming favorite going into the title event but ended with just a fourth-place finish.

Tears were shed. Ultimately, a historic season ended with an equally historic upset.

Often, that is the way sports go. Upsets happen. It might sound like a cliche, but that is why they play the games.

But this is not the same. The men’s golf team did not get upset — they got screwed.

The golf team’s season is not analogous to the season of the 2007 Patriots, who went undefeated in the regular season only to lose the Super Bowl. Nor is it similar to the season of the 2001 Seattle Mariners, who won as many games as any baseball team ever only to be upended by the Yankees in the ALCS.

Those teams lost fair and square, but the Cal men’s golf team suffered their fate due to an unfair system. Though the regular season for golf uses stroke-play events, the NCAA Championship switches to match-play. Match-play events can, ultimately, be more exciting to watch by leading to improbable upsets. But those upsets come at the integrity of the game, which should be designed to reward those teams that are the best.

And the men’s golf squad was undeniably that — the best. Why else would awards, like coach Steve Desimone’s coach of the year award, keep flooding in even after they lost at the NCAAs?

So screw the NCAAs. The Cal men’s golf team is already looking to the future, confident in the knowledge that the team’s 2013 effort was one of the best ever.

Sure, losing Homa, the team’s only senior, will hurt. He is a tough piece to replace. But the team last year was already so far above its competitors that there is no reason next year can’t result in the capture of that elusive championship.

Contact Riley McAtee at rmcatee@dailycal.org. Follow him on Twitter @riley_mcatee

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This past weekend the Bears’ winning streak was snapped, coming in second to UNLV in the ASU Thunderbird Invitational. This was an unexpected result; No. 1 Cal defeated UNLV in the former’s own tournament almost a month ago in Las Vegas.

The Bears finished both Friday and Saturday in the fourth spot, finding it difficult to find any sense of rhythm. The team normally gets off to a slow start, rallying the into the top rank in the subsequent days, but this weekend Cal could not recover in such a fashion.

Max Homa started off Friday shooting four-under par on the first 14 holes. The 15th hole was the beginning of his problems, where he scored a bogey. On the par-three 16th hole, Homa shot a quadruple bogey, accumulating seven strokes. The poor shooting performance damaged the Bears’ scoring; Homa eventually finished with two-over par.

No. 1 Michael Kim ended the first day of the tournament ranked sixth, five shots behind the leader Nick Chianello of Oregon State. He only scored two bogeys, but his six pars and single birdie were not enough to propel him into the top five.

Freshman James Yoon, playing in his first competitive tournament at Cal, ended Friday ranked 28th with a score of one over par.  He had two birdies on holes 10 and 14, but his three bogies held him back.

Some of the Bears’ best performances of the weekend came on Saturday, but they were only able to climb to 4th place.

Brandon Hagy showed up for Cal, finishing the day six under-par. This marked the best of the best round of the day for an individual, as well as his second-best career performance. His bogey free execution moved him up a total of nine spots to third place overall, just three shots shy of the leader.

However, Hagy’s glimmer of light was not enough to pull Cal up out of the rut.

Michael Kim fell back two spots from sixth to eighth. His three birdies were cancelled out by an equal amount of bogies, leaving him with an even score. Yoon and Joel Stalter also fell back multiple spots, ending day two on a negative note for the Bears.

Going into Sunday, Cal was tied for fourth with UNLV. Unfortunately, the Bears would not be able to surpass their competitors from Las Vegas. UNLV finished the tournament in first place, Cal trailing by a single point.

UNLV closed the nail-biter tournament with a score of 843. Cal finished just one stroke behind.

No. 30 Brandon Hagy tied for second place with No. 31 Scott Fernandez with a score of 203, just one point behind the constant individual leader Nick Chianello.

Just two victories short of stealing the unofficial NCAA record of 10 tournament wins in a season from Oklahoma State, the Bears were disappointed by their loss. However, they still have four opportunities to claim this title.

Overall, Cal has won 14 of its last 23 tournaments dating back to the 2011-12 season.  The Bears have placed in the top five of all 23.

Alexa Cammarano covers men’s golf. Contact her at acammarano@dailycal.org

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In the three-day tournament last weekend, Kim had a total of 14 birdies on Saturday, moving him from being tied at 51st to being tied for seventh.  Ranked No. 1 in the nation by Golfweek, he broke a school record for the number of consecutive wins, finishing the tournament in a four-way tie for first place.

“The course really fit our games well,” said coach Steve Desimone. “We felt comfortable about it.”

No. 1 Cal closed the tournament in first place with a 13-stroke lead. This was its eighth of nine away tournament victories.

“I’m running out of superlatives for these guys,” Desimone said. “It’s really the best problem to have.”

UNLV hosted 13 of the top 14 collegiate golf teams this weekend, including Cal’s Bay Area rival, Stanford. The Cardinal were the only team that was able to keep up with the Bears’ talented players.

Stanford was one shot behind Cal on Friday and was the only other team to break par due to unfriendly weather conditions. The tournament was put on hold for 90 minutes because of the severity of the storm.

“We got slammed by rain,” Desimone said. “It was just coming down in buckets. It was a merciful delay.I’m not sure any of us would be alive if they hadn’t called us off the field.”

Rain or shine, all five of Cal’s players finished the tournament in the top 11. Max Homa finished in a four-way tie for seventh, while Brandon Hagy, Joel Stalter and Michael Weaver finished in a five-way tie for 11th.

On Friday and Saturday, Homa had even par rounds, evening out his multiple birdies and bogeys. Homa moved up five positions on Sunday, boasting an eagle on a 40-foot putt on the 13th hole.

Hagy started the team off strong on Friday, playing impressively under the harsh weather conditions. He began with a three-under-par round of 69. With a total of 11 birdies, split up by two pars, and one lone bogey at the end, Hagy finished tied for third on Friday.

Hagy fell nine spots on Saturday to 12th. But on Sunday, Hagy climbed up one spot and played the best of the three Bears tied for 11th..

The Bears claimed their 14th of 22 wins since last fall with this tournament. Cal will take a break until April for the Arizona State Thunderbird Invitational.

Alexa Cammarano covers men’s golf. Contact her at acammarano@dailycal.org

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Victoria Chow/File

Sophomore Michael Kim started the Fresno State Lexus Classic on Monday with average strokes, but he picked up his game during the last four holes. On the 17th hole of the Belmont Country Club, he scored his first of seven consecutive birdies.

This momentum carried through to Tuesday, when he finished the tournament with a 37-stroke lead.

With the conclusion of the tournament, he tied a school record of three consecutive victories. In total, Kim held a team high of 15 birdies, redeeming his two earlier bogeys.

No. 1 Cal men’s golf team’s junior Brandon Hagy (-10) and junior Michael Weaver took second and third places, respectively, pushing the Bears into first place.

“My favorite moment was walking to my ball on 18 green, just knowing that my team won and I won,” Kim said. “In the last two tournaments that I won, I still had a lot of work to do.”

Kim, Hagy and Weaver’s performances marked the second consecutive tournament in which the Bears held the first, second and third spots. The trio had never accomplished this feat before.

Cal has won seven of its last eight away tournaments. In total, it won 13 of 22 tournaments since the fall of 2011 and finished in the top five in every other event.

“We have made it look really easy out there, almost too easy,” Cal coach Steve Desimone said. “We’ve been holding down the No. 1 spot for five-plus months now. That’s a lot of baggage to carry.”

The Bears also benefitted from playing at the Belmont Country Club at Fresno, Calif.

“It’s an interesting course,” Desimone said. “It’s short and tactical, so you have to play the ball both ways. You have to hit the ball with some height, which was very beneficial, especially for Weaver and Hagy.”

The Bear’s versatility as a team is apparent in their leader boards. Junior Joel Stalter and senior Max Homa, along with Weaver, claimed the top three spots of the previous tournament at the John A. Burns Intercollegiate. This week, Kim and Hagy dominated the field.

Max Homa finished 22nd in the tournament, with a final score of -1. By Tuesday, he reduced his number of bogeys to one and had a total of 10 birdies.

“It is competitive between us, but it is a good thing,” Stalter said. “We push each other to achieve our goals.”

Stalter, currently ranked as the No.1 player in the nation by Golfstat and No. 2 by Golfweek, didn’t have as great of a game as last week. He birdied seven holes on Monday, but three bogeys and one double-bogey left him with a score of -2.

On Tuesday, Stalter had only one bogey. He finished the day with a final score of -6 after 10 pars and five birdies.

“Some weeks you have it, and some weeks you don’t,” Desimone said. “That’s what’s so amazing about how consistent it has been.

“We have five or six players that are virtually interchangeable,” Desimone added. “When you have five players that are ranked in the top 15 in the nation for youth, you know that at any time, any of them can take it deep and get it going. It’s a real luxury.”

Alexa Cammarano covers men’s golf. Contact her at acammarano@dailycal.org

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On Wednesday, the No. 1 Cal men’s golf team recorded its fourth consecutive victory in dominant fashion. At the Meadow Club in Fairfax, Calif., the Bears trumped the second-place University of San Fransisco by 20 strokes at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational.

The win also marked the fourth season in a row that Cal has won its own event. Last year, the Bears shared the MacKenzie title with Oregon after battling back from fourth place to compete with the Ducks.

Last year, an epic 25-foot putt from veteran Max Homa on the final hole secured the Bears a share of the tournament title.

This year, Oregon finished the MacKenzie Invitational tied in 11th place.

Though last year’s Invitational was a nail-biter that came down to the final putt, this year couldn’t have been more different.

The Bears ended the first two rounds in the first day with a nine-stroke lead over the University of San Francisco. The Dons were the only team within 25 strokes of the lead after the first day.

The Bears extended that lead by 11 more strokes on Tuesday, pulling away from San Francisco and securing the victory.

Junior Brandon Hagy led the winning effort, earning his first tournament win at 15 under par. He ended the first day at 16-under and with a five-stroke lead over the rest of the field. Hagy shot under par on half of the day’s 36 holes and was able to secure the victory in the third round with 13 pars on 18 of the holes.

The MacKenzie Invitational win is one more link in a chain of Cal wins. The Bears opened the official fall season with a win at the Gopher Invitational, followed by a shared title at the PING/Golfweek Preview. Cal continued onward, racking up  another first place at the Pac-12 Preview.

The Bears remain perfect heading into the elite Isleworth Collegiate Invitational, their final event of the fall season. The three-day tournament begins on Oct. 21 and features fierce competition, including defending champion No. 2 Texas and five of the nation’s other top-15 teams.

Though the Bears have been rolling over most other competition, Isleworth is the one most likely to spoil Cal’s perfect season. The Windemere, Fla., event will serve as a preview of the nation’s best as Cal gears up for the championship season in the spring.

Contact Taylor Brink at tbrink@dailycal.org

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This is the second in a two-part installment of the top 10 moments from Cal sports this year. Today we bring you moments 1-5. For moments 6-10, click here.

5. Bears win 18-inning game at Stanford

For 17 innings, Tony Renda waited. Without a hit through seven at-bats, the reigning Pac-10 Player of the Year came through in his final opportunity of the game.

With two outs and a runner on second in the top of the 18th inning on May 25, Renda drove home Mike Reuvekamp, giving the Cal baseball team a lead it wouldn’t surrender in its longest, most tiring, most exhilarating win of an otherwise disappointing season.

The 18-inning game took nearly six hours to complete. A matchup that started at 5:30 p.m. ended half an hour before midnight. Batters from each team stepped up to the plate 152 times against nine different pitchers, five of whom threw at least 4 2/3 innings.

The win was a rare statement game from a Cal team that otherwise struggled mightily against ranked competition, missing out on the postseason after a mediocre year. Stanford entered the game ranked No. 14, and Cal entered the series having struggled to take down top competition, just 4-15 against top-25 foes.

The first nine innings ended with the score knotted at two, Cal starter Matt Flemer was resigned to a no-decision after allowing just one earned run through 7 2/3 innings, matching first-round pick Mark Appel. The Bears had a chance to win the game in the 12th, scoring twice in the top half of the inning, but gave those runs back in the bottom half.

After Renda’s RBI knock in the 18th, Justin Jones sealed the victory, giving Cal its most definitive win over a ranked opponent on the season.

— Chris Yoder

4. Cal topples No. 1 UCLA

College tennis’ idiosyncratic format – six singles matches take place concurrently – makes it difficult to tell which team is ahead. Thus the Cal women’s tennis team’s upset victory over top-ranked, unbeaten UCLA on April 13 featured a rarity: one final set to decide the winner.

Cal’s Annie Goransson and UCLA’s Chanelle Van Nguyen battled on the fifth court for nearly three hours, playing the decisive third set with their teammates gathered around the court.

In the end, it was Goransson who prevailed, giving Cal a 4-3 win. Her 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 victory was the high point for the Bears’ season, moving the team to 16-4, including a 8-0 record in the Pac-12.

The match itself was laced with plot twists. UCLA, winners of the doubles point in their first 20 contests, lost all three doubles matches, giving Cal a 1-0 lead. The Bears’ Jana Juricova and Anett Schutting both won the first sets of their singles matches, but neither came out victorious. Zsofi Susanyi’s win on the second court was the only match decided in straight sets.

It took a comeback win by Cal’s Tayler Davis on court four to keep her team alive and give Goransson a chance to clinch the match. When Van Nguyen fired a shot into the net at match point, the Bears stormed the court, celebrating what coach Amanda Augustus called “such a team effort.”

The glee did not last long, as the Bruins avenged their loss by ousting Cal in the NCAA quarterfinals.

Yet for Bears fans who saw their team break through, the win served as a indicator that their team has a place in the top tier of collegiate tennis.

— Luca Marzorati

3. Brandon Hagy seals Pac-12 title for Cal

Two is always better than one. That was certainly the case for sophomore Brandon Hagy on the 18th hole at the Pac-12 conference championships on Apr. 29.

After entering the final day of the tournament trailing Oregon by six shots, the Bears had almost completed the unlikely comeback.

But on the 18th green, it looked as though the Bears had trailed by too much to come all the way back. Hagy’s approach left him 40 feet from the hole, needing the birdie in order to tie the Ducks and force an extra hole playoff.

Hagy hit a perfect shot and stunned Oregon, forcing the teams into the sudden death extra hole.

“I hit it exactly how I wanted it to,” Hagy said. “It looked good from 10 feet out and it went in. It was a really good feeling.”

After the teams remained tied on the 16th hole after the first extra hole, Hagy found himself in an all too familiar situation — a long putt on the 18th green.

Hagy didn’t struggle the second time around either, dropping the 25-foot putt and securing the Bears’ first-ever conference championship.

“I’m so pumped for all the guys that played so hard,” Hagy said.

“We just hung so tough, especially in the playoff. Everybody really grinded and made some clutch putts.”

The win marked the Bears’ record fifth win of the season — an all-time high — and gave them momentum moving into the NCAAs, where they advanced to match play and the tournament semifinals.

— Warren Laufer

2. Bears advance to Women’s College World Series

After the Cal softball team clinched a spot in the Women’s College World Series with a 2-0 victory over Washington at Levine-Fricke Field, the Bears didn’t celebrate too much.

“There’s definitely still more to be done,” said left fielder Jamia Reid after the game. “Not too much celebration. We’re going to hold off until the final game.”

Perhaps the Bears ought to have celebrated. That “final game” never came for Cal, as the squad left the World Series early, exposed by two Southern schools and their overpowering starting pitchers.

But in a season chock full of accolades and accomplishments, a historic win on their home field had Cal fans buzzing.

Cal coach Diane Ninemire called it “the biggest win in Cal history for softball.” After four scoreless frames and a sliding catch by Reid with the bases loaded that saved at least two Washington runs, Cheyenne Cordes drove in the winning runs for the Bears with a two-run shot over the left field scoreboard.

The Bears turned a bruising Pac-12 schedule into a cakewalk, cruising to a 50-4 regular season record and their first outright conference title since 1987. Ranked No. 1 for the majority of the season, the Super Regional win capped Cal’s biggest win of the year.

After a season of extraordinary expectations, the Bears fell flat in the World Series, turning what should have been the season’s penultimate high into the ultimate one.

But Cal’s historic season will not be forgotten anytime soon.

— Chris Yoder

1. Men’s and women’s swim teams win NCAA titles

There must be something in the water at Spieker Aquatics Center. How else to explain the wild success of the Cal swim teams in recent years?

Both the Cal men’s and women’s swim teams won national team titles this March, each for the second year in a row. Each team proved definitively that when it comes to college swimming, there is no better program.

That’s about where the similarities end.

The women’s team entered the year loaded with top-tier talent, including 2012 Olympic hopefuls Caitlin Leverenz, Sara Isakovic and Liv Jensen. Ranked No. 1 or No. 2 for most of the year, the Pac-12 champions entered the national meet in the spotlight after a solid regular season, picking up their third NCAA title in four years.

The men’s team, on the other hand, entered NCAAs as underdogs.

Of the six Cal swimmers who won events at NCAAs in 2011, junior Tom Shields was the only returner. But the Bears more than made up for their losses with depth and young talent. The meet served as a coming out party for youngsters like sophomore Marcin Tarczynski (200 IM champion) and freshman Will Hamilton (200 fly winner). Cal swimmers won six events and took second in five more. Head coach David Durden displayed a knack for getting his swimmers to peak when it mattered most.

There may never again be a team like this year’s men’s swim team — if only because the program is unlikely to enter NCAAs as an underdog ever again.

— Chris Yoder

The post The top 10 moments in Cal sports this year: Part two appeared first on The Daily Californian.

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No one expected the Cal men’s golf team to break the school record for wins this year. No one expected the Bears to claim their first conference title. Certainly, no one expected them to win their NCAA regional — but they did.

The golf world knew that the Bears had talent, but no one expected the results to come as quickly as they did.

With a core of three of the most consistent golfers in the country, a veteran coach, and a skinny freshman with limited power, the Bears did what nobody expected them to do: compete for a national title.

Though Cal was unable to finish a comeback against top-seeded Alabama in the NCAA Tournament semifinals, the season was already historic before the team even reached that point.

“It’s been the best season in Cal golf history,” said head coach Steve Desimone. “We won a national championship in 2004, but if you look at what was accomplished (this year) — six tournament wins, the first conference championship, the first regional win, the academic accomplishments with five guys in Haas [business school] — it doesn’t get any better than this.”

The Bears will return all five golfers that competed at the NCAA competition, putting the squad in prime position to compete for a national title next season. Senior Jeff Hamm is graduating, but Michael Weaver will be back after redshirting this year.

“None of us see this thing slowing down,” Desimone said. “We were so close that we want another crack at this.”

Redshirt sophomore Brandon Hagy led the team alongside junior Max Homa and freshman Michael Kim, who created one of the most powerful top threes in the country.

Desimone says his players will all “be receiving postseason honors,” though those awards have yet to be formally announced.

“They all had great seasons,” Desimone said. “They all had moments where they really carried the team.”

Hagy’s highlight was the Pac-12 conference championship where a 40-foot putt on the 18th hole sent the tournament to extra holes and a 20-foot putt on the same hole minutes later, which won the team its first conference title.

Hagy has high hopes for next year’s team after it advancing so far at NCAAs.

“We expect to be in that final match next year,” Hagy said. “We’re all pretty driven to work hard and prepare for next season because we know that we can be one of those top teams in the country. We want that spotlight.”

The Bears should get that spotlight next year after exceeding all expectations this season. Desimone’s plans are ahead of schedule for the team. He was hoping for a strong showing from his team, but thought that next year would be the breakout season.

Instead, this was Cal’s breakout year.

One reason for this was Kim’s impressive rookie season.

“His track record was such that we thought he would make contributions,” Desimone said. “What surprised us wasn’t the quality, but how quickly he settled into the lineup.”

Whether it was Hagy’s putts, Kim’s short game, or Joel Stalter’s comeback to help the Bears beat SDSU in the NCAA quarterfinals, this year’s Cal golf team established itself as one of the best programs in the country.

If all goes well, next year will be no different — if not even better.

“You can call it overachieving,” Desimone said, “you can call it anything. We’re not sneaking up on anyone next year. We know what the expectations are.

“We got a third place trophy this year, but we want a first place trophy next year.”

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