Believe it or not, the Pac-10 Championships are this week, from April 28-April 30. The Bears have a lot to prove-they finished in ninth place last year and, after having a look-see at the ol’ record books, it appears as though the Bears haven’t won the title, uh, ever.

On that note, this year’s as good a year as any to break that losing streak. Cal’s hosting at the familiar green of the lovely Meadow Club, its finished in the top eight in every tournament this spring, and the team’s optimism couldn’t be higher. I’ve been guaranteed by freshman Stephen Hale that I’ll be writing a recap of their stunning victory come Wednesday night. Read the rest of this entry »

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Coach Desimone was telling me the other day how golf is a wonderful, unpredictable sport. In his words: “Tiger lost to the 29^th ranked player in the country at the Masters. Golf is a very strange game. It’s different than just about anything else. It’s hardly ever a time when the 29^th ranked team is going to win an NCAA football or basketball championship. Golf is that kind of a sport and so for us we can take heart in the fact that strange things like these things can happen.”

That strange thing happened today in the U.S. Intercollegiate at Stanford. Cal finished the first day of the two-day tournament in sole possession of fourth place. The teams that Cal trails? The leader No. 5 USC, the host No. 11 Stanford, and No. 3 UCLA.
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I don’t think anyone would claim that football, basketball, and baseball players don’t have intense practice regimens. The same cannot be said for golfers.

In fact, most people probably assume that golfers have it the easiest of the athletes.

They get to laze around at the country club, hit the links every now and again, right?

Wrong. Read the rest of this entry »

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The Bears finished up today in Santa Cruz, posting a solid fourth place finish in the Western Intercollegiate. Conditions were pretty tough, with both cold weather and an unusually difficult course set up to contend with. Sophomore Evan Derian also withdrew from the first day’s action due to illness and definitely wasn’t at full strength on day two. That said, a fourth place finish behind two respectable ranked teams (the tourney winner St. Mary’s and runner-up Michigan St.) doesn’t seem too shabby. Especially considering that Cal was only six strokes over St. Mary’s score of +40. Read the rest of this entry »

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The men’s golf team finished today in sole possession of third place in the two-day Western Intercollegiate golf tournament in Santa Cruz. They’re situated behind two very respectable ranked teams (Michigan St. and St. Mary’s). Freshman Stephen Hale added to his spectacular spring résumé by leading the Bears in sixth place overall. Junior George Gandranata notched a solid six over, good for tenth place, and senior Brandon Beck and freshman Eric Mina tied for 20^th place. Another solid day for the Bears who continue to keep all members of the team in the top 20. Read the rest of this entry »

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Welcome to the first men’s golf blog entry of the spring!

I understand that golf isn’t exactly the most spectator-friendly sport. The whole standing up for ten hours while never raising your voice above a library-acceptable whisper deal somehow doesn’t have the same appeal as a football game. Plus, there are no cool cheers…although I am trying to remedy that. Email me if you think of something sweet that rhymes with Gandranata.

In the spirit of trying to make Cal golf more entertaining and accessible for you, the fans, I’m going to be using this blog as a forum to tell you all about the subtleties of the game and those fun little details about the team.

A few things that you may not have known about the Cal men’s golf… Read the rest of this entry »

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