The Long Beach State men’s golf team will tee off at the Big West Conference Championships from May 3-4 for the chance to receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals.
The 49ers have played multiple styles of golf courses this year, and traveled as far as Hawaii and South Carolina to compete. But, no course that LBSU has played so far will be like the one the team and its eight Big West foes will encounter at the Mission Viejo Country Club.
Nicknamed “Mission Impossible,” the venue features a brutal 7,143-yard, par-72 course and presents some of the most difficult par-3 holes around, with each hole exceeding 200 yards or more in distance.
The course also includes nine par-4s that reach 400 yards and over, not to mention long par-5 holes throughout.
“It’s a beast,” 49ers assistant coach Zach Vinal said. “It’s called Mission Impossible. It’s close to home and we are a good ball-striking team so it’s gonna come down to good putting.”
Last year’s tournament was played at the San Luis Obispo Country Club, a shorter (6,769 yards) and less difficult course than Mission Viejo.
UC Davis won the title shooting three-under-par as a team, while The Beach came in fifth with a 22-over-par tally, improving on its last-place showing from 2008.
UCI comes into the tournament as the highest ranked Big West team in the latest Golfweek rankings at No. 56, while UCD is at No. 86 and Pacific is ranked No. 96. With a national ranking of No. 109 out of 304 Division I teams, a win at the Big West Championships could be the 49ers’ only chance at an NCAA bid.
The team has played well against the Big West this year, posting a record of 14-4 against conference opponents to go with quality wins over then-ranked No. 3 Oregon, No. 25 Tennessee and No. 38 Arizona.
“Having everyone on the same page is huge, and not making those little errors that cost us shots, putting all the pieces together and remembering every shot matters,” Vinal said.
Seniors Michael Drake, Robbie Berton and Steve Gibson will lead The Beach.
Drake holds the team’s lowest stroke average at 73.88 through his eight tournament appearances and posted the 49ers’ best individual finish in last year’s championships with a one-under score to place seventh.
Gibson and Berton head into Mission Viejo with 74.50 and 75.48 stroke averages, respectively.
The underclassmen have arguably been even more vital, including sophomores Kevin Roy and Austin Love. Roy has a 74.37 stroke average and Love is registering 74.56 per round. Both competed in last year’s tournament as freshmen.
The freshman class is ranked in the top 25 nationally and consists of Benjamin Lein (73.96 stroke average), Raymond Ho (75.06) and Philip Chian (75.80).
Lein is a candidate for Big West Freshman of the Year and could make it back-to-back years of LBSU winning the award, with redshirt sophomore Kevin Lim taking it last season.
“It’s win or go home time,” Vinal said. “You want to be the team that wins by one shot, not lose by one shot.”
Roy, Lein, Drake and Gibson are four of five golfers named to compete for LBSU at the championships, with the final player to be announced on Friday, Vinal said.
2010 recruiting update
The 49ers recently signed Chien Yao (Alan) Hung of Taipei, Taiwan, who is ranked the No. 1 international recruit for the 2010 class.
Hung, 17, has played in courses all over the world, including India and Australia and is ranked No. 14 in the Junior World Rankings and No. 55 in the World Amateur Player of the Year standings.
Vinal said, “We are so excited to get Alan, he is everything we are looking for. He’s just a great kid, has great grades; we couldn’t be more excited.”
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