And you thought there was nothing I could possibly blog about during the off-season.

Well guess again, ladies and gents, because there’s some great news on the Cal men’s golf front to report. The season may be over, but those accolades keep piling up. Along with their previously announced Pac-10 honors (third team—Stephen Hale, honorable mentions—Evan Derian and George Gandranata), the Bears have three more achievements to add to that list.

Assistant coach Walter Chun was named the Jan Strickland award winner for being the finest assistant golf coach in the land. Chun, who was a member of the squad himself only six years ago, has coached at Cal for four years. The award not only recognizes his skills as a coach, but as a mentor beyond the links. Considering the Strickland award is open to all men’s golf assistant coaches from Division I all the way to NAIA, Chun’s accomplishment is no small one.

Sophomore Evan Derian is already an honorable mention on the all-conference squad, but he was recently given first team honors for something slightly different: the Pac-10 Men’s Golf All-Academic team. Derian’s 72.8 stroke average combined with a solid 3.2 grade point average landed him on the first team. Coach Desimone constantly stresses the importance of being strong both athletically and academically, so I’m sure he’s very pleased with Evan. The guys have a lot on their plates with golf and school, so much so that it’s really amazing that they can balance the load at all. Evan deserves to be honored for gettin’ it done on and off the golf course.

Lastly, a former Bear is in the spotlight this week after qualifying for the U.S. Open. Peter Tomasulo, who was a member of the 2004 National Championship squad, shot a 16-under at the qualifiers in Ohio to nab a spot in San Diego. Tomasulo was twice named to the All-American team during his stint at Cal and is currently on the Nationwide Tour. The U.S. Open begins Thursday.Some members of the current squad are participating in tournaments over the summer, so I’ll be sure to keep you updated with any information I can scrounge up. Until then, I leave you with this.