LV embarrasses Kingsmen at Sierra La Verne

by Matt Paulson
Sports Editor

In its first Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference match of the year, the University of La Verne golf team defeated Cal Lutheran by a comfortable margin of 17 strokes on Monday at Sierra La Verne Country Club.

ULV was led by medalist Joe Skovron, a junior who posted an even-par 71. Just three strokes behind was freshman James Pearce, who put up a front-nine 33, and struggled to a back-nine 41 for a total of 74: the second best score in the match.

Skovron, who is normally ULV's top player, struggled throughout January. In fact, Skovron qualified at ULV's fifth spot, when he is usually at least in the top two on the Leopard squad.

"It was awful," he said.

With Monday's 71, though, Skovron "found something" in his swing.

Head coach Rex Huigens remarked that it was nice to see Skovron pull himself out of the funk he had been in throughout the preseason.

Pearce's 33 on the front nine started off with an eagle on the first hole of his collegiate career. He then backed up the eagle by draining a 30-foot birdie putt on the second hole after being struck in the shoulder by a stray tee shot.

On the back nine, Pearce caught an unlucky break on the tenth green, which resulted in a three-putt bogey. That three putt would set the tone for the rest of the back side, in which he grinded to a score of 41.

"I felt good about the 33, but I had some bad luck [on the back nine]," Pearce said. "I put myself in some of the wrong spots."

Even with Pearce's score coming in, Skovron felt optimistic about the freshman's potential.

"I think he's got the ability to go low," Skovron said.

The Leopards recorded a team score of 301 on their difficult home track. Cal Lu trudged its way to a team score of 318. ULV's worst score of the six golfers that played in the match was an 80. This equaled Cal Lu's second-best score of the day.

Part of the reason for the one-sidedness of Monday's match was the home-course advantage that ULV possesses with Sierra La Verne, especially on the back nine.

"We've got a pretty big home course advantage," Skovron said. "The back nine just gets to people, no matter who we play. It's pretty hard for us to lose at home."

Although the Leopards trounced the Kingsmen, Huigens expressed that the team has much room for improvement.

"We are capable of playing much better than we did," Huigens said.

His disappointment is based mainly on the high expectations he holds for the team and the expectations the players hold for themselves.

For a long time, the school record was a team score of 297 in a match, Huigens said. Now, the Leopard squad expects to shoot less than 300 in every match in which it plays.

"Our expectations are so much higher than they've ever been, and our capabilities are so much higher than they've ever been," Huigens said.

He said this year, the Leopards boast "the best depth we've ever had, maybe the best team we've ever had, but time will tell."

Another strength that has added to the Leopards' arsenal is the addition of two freshman, both of whom qualified for spots in Monday's meet ­ Pearce and Doug Green, who posted a modest 79.

"They're going to help make us better," Huigens said.

Skovron forecasted that both Pearce and Green were going to be "mainstays in the lineup" throughout the year.

After a trip to the last two national tournaments, the Leopards' goals for this season do not change dramatically.

"We need to win conference," said junior Joey Murray.

"We need just to win every match," Skovron said. If the Leopards achieve this, it will negate the necessity of regaining ground on the final 36 holes of the season in the conference tournament.

The biggest obstacle in the way of a conference title is the University of Redlands, Huigens said.

Redlands, last year's conference champion by 2-1/2 points over ULV, made a strong showing in the Ken Sherman kickoff, which the Bulldogs hosted. The Bulldogs finished at even par, defeating the closest competition, ULV, by 13 strokes.

The Leopards' march to a conference title continues when they tee off at 12:30 on Tuesday, Feb. 18 against Occidental after a cancellation of the Feb. 12 match against Claremont due to unplayable course conditions caused by this week's rain.