La Verne not on par at nationals

by Matt Paulson
Special to the Campus Times

Riddled by single-hole and back-nine falters and the haunting memories of past national letdowns, the University of La Verne golf team has pieced together a lukewarm performance to grind itself into seventh place at 44 over par total, 5 over through nine holes at press time yesterday in the fourth and final round of this year’s national tournament at the PGA at Oak Valley in Beaumont, Calif.

After a mainly famine or feast season, the Leopards stood in fifth place after the third round at 39 over par, 17 strokes back from leader Gustavus Adolphus. This standing marked a drastic improvement in nationals from the last two years, in which the Leopards finished 21st last year and 20th the year before, but was still somewhat mediocre compared to the their triumphant expectations coming into this week.

“I think we came here to win, and I came here to win,” said senior Joe Skovron, who led ULV after three rounds, standing at 7-over-par and in a tie for 13th place. Skovron stood in 16th place at 3 over par through nine holes in his fourth round at press time yesterday, for 10 over par total.

“We haven’t played terrible. We haven’t played great. I think we’re good enough to win here, but everything has to go your way to win a national championship,” he said.

And everything did not go La Verne’s way this week. Hiccups causing double and triple bogeys were too prevalent on the respective Leopard scorecards to lead to a top spot on the podium.

“One bad shot at the wrong time does it,” said Joey Murray, this season’s Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference co-player of the year. Murray struggled on the greens – his usual Graceland – to post rounds of 78 and 77 the first two days.

His biggest falter was at the final hole of his third round, when he stood at even par and miss-hit his approach into the water from more than 200 yards out of the left rough. A three putt later, he walked off the hole with a triple-bogey seven and a 3-over-par 75.

“It just seemed like the shot to hit,” Murray said. “I wanted to get in at even par and try to feed off that (in the final round).” Murray also made a double bogey on the fourth hole in his third round. He stood even through nine holes at press time yesterday, to stand 14 over total.

“You’ll shoot alright out there if you don’t hit the high numbers,” said Andrew Garcia, who was ULV’s model of consistency the first three rounds, shooting 36-39—75 the first two days and straying slightly to fire 38-37—75 in the third round. Garcia was at 1 over par through nine holes yesterday, 10 over total to tie for 16th place along with Skovron.

The back nine also proved specifically difficult in the Leopards’ hopes for a championship. Skovron averaged more than 1 under par on the front nine, but struggled on the way in, averaging almost 4-over-par on the back in his first three rounds.

In his third round, Skovron had it to 2-under-par through 11 holes, which placed him momentarily in third place individually for the tournament. But six bogeys in his remaining seven holes carded him a 34-42—76 and dropped him 10 spots on the leaderboard by the time the day was over.

Through three rounds as a team, the Leopards played the front nine nearly two strokes better than they played the back, a trend that seemed to be affecting everyone, as the five statistically hardest holes in rounds 1 and 3 and the three hardest in round 2 were all on the back side.

The national tournament is exceptionally unique from conference tournaments where not all the team’s scores count. It entertains the luxury of throwing out a few. In nationals, everyone counts.

Freshman Nathan Logan, who found his way onto the starting squad with a late-season push, fought butterflies early to fire an opening-round 83. He rebounded to shoot 75 and 76 in the second and third rounds. In the fourth round, he stood at 1 over through 12 holes, for a 19 over par total at press time yesterday.

Brad Booher did the opposite, opening with a 74 and dropping fast in the second and third rounds with respective numbers of 81 and 84. In Booher’s fourth round, he stood at 8 over through 12 holes, for a 31 over par total at press time yesterday.

But the Leopards remained optimistic about the remaining portion of the tournament.

“If we keep playing well, we’ll be (in the top 10),” said head coach Rex Huigens. “I don’t feel bad at all.”