Leos battle weather in Ohio

by Matt Paulson
Sports Editor

The University of La Verne golf team finished 21st of 23 teams this week in the Division III National Tournament in Delaware, Ohio.

In the final round, the Leopards as a team fired a 319, their worst score of the tournament by four strokes and the worst score of the day by one.

Junior Joey Murray and freshman James Pearce were the only Leopards to break 80, both shooting a team-best 79 in Thursday's final round.

The third round, played in this tournament Wednesday, is generally known as "moving day" on the PGA Tour; however, the Leopards failed to take advantage of prime scoring conditions ­ the best of the tournament up to that point ­ and move up the leaderboard.

"The weather (Wednesday) was perfect, very playable," head coach Rex Huigens said.

After struggling the first two rounds in Delaware, La Verne managed to settle down slightly in the third round, following a 30-minute frost delay, to post a team total of 303. This total was eight shots better than the Leopards' best total up to Wednesday in the tournament.

Junior Joe Skovron, who was voted the best golfer in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference by his peers this year, led the Leopards Wednesday with a 1-over-par 72.

Sophomore Andrew Garcia followed closely with a 4-over-par 75, equalling the lowest number of any Leopard in the first two rounds Monday and Tuesday.

As the result of five tough finishing holes and "worrying about their score too much," Skovron said, Murray and freshman Doug Green finished 5-over-par in their last five holes to both shoot 7-over-par 78s.

Green led ULV for the first two rounds, firing 75-79 in the inclement weather conditions.

Green's fallout Wednesday, Huigens said, was partly due to distance control problems.

"He hits the ball probably too far," Huigens said.

Rounding out the scoring in round three was Pearce, who has struggled this tournament, firing a third-round, 12-over-par 83.

As a team, this earned La Verne a disappointing aggregate score of 303, which left ULV with a variety of "should haves," considering the scoreable conditions Wednesday provided.

"We should have been under 300," Huigens said.

Wednesday's score, Skovron said, was "mediocre."

"We should have gotten lower than we did," he said.

The total of 303 Wednesday was a 12-shot improvement upon La Verne's second round score of 315 Tuesday.

"We played very poorly (Tuesday)," Huigens said. "It really cost us."

The Leopards paid a price of seven spots on the leaderboard, moving from No. 14 after day one to No. 21 after day two.

On day one, the weather conditions were not exactly what one would generally find in the spring in Southern California.

Delaware, Ohio boasted a balmy 54 degrees with 10-mph winds.

Green led the Leopards with a 4-over-par 75 in the harsh conditions. Garcia followed with a 77, while Skovron was a few steps behind with an 8-over-par 79, after finishing 4-over in his last five holes.

Skovron's scores of 79-79 the first two days summed up the Leopard performance in the opening rounds of nationals. Skovron's average of 73.48 during the entire conference season this year earned him the lowest scoring average in SCIAC. His average over the first two rounds in nationals is more than five shots worse than his season average.

The weather conditions did play a large part in Skovron and the Leopards' disappointing performance the first two days.

Although it is a common ideal in golf that no matter how bad the conditions get, everyone has to play the same course, alleviating any advantage held by one side over another.

However, La Verne was playing schools from throughout the nation. 50-degree temperatures, rain, and winds reaching double digits is much more common on the East Coast and Midwest than in Southern California, giving these schools from other parts of the country an obvious advantage in harsh conditions.

ULV is adjusted to playing, at worst, in overcast skies.

"The worse it gets, the bigger of an advantage (other teams) have," Skovron said.

But the University of Redlands, the other Southern California team and SCIAC representative, has done well in the conditions, finishing the third round in sixth place, just 11 shots behind Wesley College, the leaders.

The SCIAC Lee Fulmer Player of the Year, Redlands senior Jordan Bailey, shot 74-72-71 in the first three rounds of nationals and stood in sixth place as an individual entering the fourth round.

Due to an afternoon rain delay, Bailey's and Redlands' fourth-round results were not yet available at press time, but Bailey was tied for sixth place through nine holes at 5-over and Redlands, as a team, was tied for fourth place with less than half its holes remaining.

The national tournament, hosted by Ohio Wesleyan University and the par-71, private Dornoch Country Club, pits 23 of the nation's top Division III schools against each other.

Each team brings five players, and the lowest four scores are recorded as a part of the team total each day.