University of Oregon
Big Ten/Pac-10 Challenge
No. 17 UCLA Overcomes Weather to Grab Big Ten/Pac-10 Challenge Lead
10/25/04 | Men's Golf
BANDON, Ore. -- No. 19 UCLA survived a punishing fall storm to take the first round lead before a driving rain halted play Monday afternoon at the Big Ten/Pac-10 Challenge, played on the par-72, 7,040-yard Bandon Dunes Golf Course.
The Bruins shot a 3-over 291 and will enter Tuesday with a five-shot lead over No. 17 Arizona State and a seven-stroke advantage over Northwestern and No. 10 USC. The weather forced tournament officials to shorten the event to 36 holes, which will tentatively be completed Tuesday beginning at 9 a.m.
The morning round got off to a relatively benign start with light winds under overcast skies. The dry conditions made for the day's best scoring opportunities and Northwestern's Bryson Young, who had four birdies in his first nine holes, took advantage to post the low total on Monday, a 2-under 70.
Northwestern's Bryson Young on the 16th tee.
"Bryson played really well," said Northwestern coach Pat Goss. "He got three or four birdies real early and that's what you had to do today."
Only two other players managed to break par, 2003 NCAA individual medalist Alejandro Canizares of Arizona State and USC's Taylor Wood, who both carded a 71.
As players made the turn around 11 a.m. the Bandon Dunes course began to bear its teeth. The wind picked up out of the south, gusting to 25 miles per hour, and the first squall line moved through at 1 p.m. From there, conditions -- and scores -- only got worse. About five holes into the second round, teams were called off the course at 3:20 p.m. after two hours of hard rain left too much water on Bandon's greens.
In spite of the conditions, UCLA posted remarkably consistent scores. John Poucher led the way with a 72, while Kevin Chappell, Daniel Im and Peter Campbell each had 73s. Poucher and Washington's Alex Prugh were tied for fourth at level par.
Alejandro Canizares of ASU tees off on No. 16..
Arizona State was second at 296, followed by USC and Northwestern at 298. Washington was fifth at 301, No. 20 Minnesota and Indiana tied for sixth at 304, defending NCAA champion California was eighth at 305 and Arizona was ninth at 307.
Host Oregon joined three other schools, Michigan Penn State and No. 21 Purdue, tied for 10th place at 310. Illinois was last at 312.
Individually, the Ducks had three players shoot 77, senior Justin St. Clair (Springfield, Ore.), junior Gregg LaVoie and freshman Joey Benedetti, who were all tied for 31st.
"It got pretty rough out there today," said Oregon coach Steve Nosler. "The scores aren't very pretty, but every player just played their guts out today. The Bandon Dunes course and the weather proved to be a very stern test of their skill and mental focus."
In the conference challenge, the Pac-10 took a 38-stroke lead, plus-70 to plus-108. Each conference counts its low six scores to determine the challenge winner.
- www.GoDucks.com -
