March 11, 2005
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Briefly
Fresh off an impressive showing at UC Riverside's tournament in which they finished ninth out of 19 teams last week, the Loyola Marymount University men's golf team will travel to the Anteater Invitational hosted by UC Irvine. The tournament will be held at El Niguel Country Club in Laguna Niguel next Monday and Tuesday (March 14-15). Thirty-six holes will be played Monday with the final 18 on Tuesday at the par-72 layout that measures 6,962 yards.
This Week
Joining LMU and host UCI in the 10-team field next week at the Anteater Invitaitonal will be Cal State Northridge, San Diego, Pacific, San Jose State, Gonzaga, Idaho State and "B" teams from UCLA and Arizona. The tournament is a late addition for the Lions as they will continue to take on one of its toughest schedules in recent history. Making up the Lions team this year in the Anteater Invitational is Jason D'Amore, Chaz Inouye, Brendan von Doehren, Josh Escobedo and Jason Wilk.
The Course
El Niguel Country Club was founded in 1976 with the Original Golf Course opening in 1963. The course was originally designed by David Kent and subsequently improved by golf course designers Cal Olson and Ted Robinson. The present club was incorporated in March, 1976 by a group of 23 Founders. Improvements to the golf course and clubhouse have occurred steadily over the years. In the late 70's an entirely new irrigation system was installed. Another interesting change was the gouging out of the creek which runs through the front nine in order to improve the drainage of the course. A major renovation of the clubhouse was completed in 1990. In 1995 all of the greens were redesigned by Ted Robinson. The course is a par-72 layout that measures 6,962 yards.
What A Debut
The true freshman Jason D'Amore from Mira Costa High School started his collegiate career with a two-under par 70 in the first round and he has been cruising ever since. He finished with a second round 75 and a third round 73 to place in a tie for 31st with a two-over 218 at the Gold Rush in his first every colleegiate tournament. For the tournament he finished with 13 birdies and he has led the Lions in every tournament on the season since then. He one-upped himself with his record-setting performance at the Vandal Fall Classic just a week later. After shooting a first-round 71, D'Amore vaulted to first place after two rounds, shooting a record-tying 64 in the second round. The 64 tied Nicolas Beauvy's single round score set in 1981. D'Amore would remain in first place the entire third round thanks to his 68 to finish 10-under for the tournament. The three-round 203 shattered the school's record of 209 set by Mike Farrell in 2002. After the Lions' eight tournaments, he leads the team with a 72.33 average over the course of 24 rounds of golf. He added two more sub-70 rounds to his resume at the Braveheart Classic, shooting a second round 69 and a third round 65 to finish fourth overall with a 210, the third best three-round total in LMU history.
Top-5 APR
Loyola Marymount University ranked fifth in the nation among all NCAA Division I schools in the first Academic Progress Rates (APR) report, issued by the NCAA on Feb. 28 for its 326 Division I schools. The APR measures an institutions success in retaining scholarship athletes and keeping them eligible in each sport. The Lions earned an APR score of 991, placing them in a tie for fifth with Villanova among all 326 Division I institutions. Rounding out the top-5 are Yale (999), Princeton (994), Penn (993) and William & Mary (992). LMU also ranks number one among all scores in the state of California, number one among all Jesuit institutions and best in the West Coast Conference (WCC). The average APR among the eight schools in the WCC sits at 964. The national average among all Division I schools is 948. The APR data is from the 2003-04 academic year and evaluates the institution's overall APR as well as each NCAA championship sport a school sponsors. LMU had 11 of the 16 sports earn a perfect score of 1000 and every sport earned a rate above a 967. Included in that 11 was the LMU men's golf team, who competes in the WCC. The average among all Division I institutions is 961.
Braveheart
As a team, the Loyola Marymount University men's golf program had its most impressive showing of the season as they finished in ninth place of the 2005 Braveheart Classic at the Oak Valley Golf Club in Beaumont, Calif. The Lions finished the 19-team tournament with a three-round score of 883. For the first time this spring the Lions had a pair of players in the top-15 as they finish the tournament second among West Coast Conference schools. The Lions finished a head of fellow WCC foes San Diego, Portland and Santa Clara. They trailed only Saint Mary's by just eight strokes, scoring better than the Gaels in the final two rounds. LMU finished the third round with a 292, sixth best on the day. Freshman Josh Escobedo continued his best tournament of the season with a one-under par final round of 71. He finished with two rounds under par, shooting a 70 in round two and a 74 in the first round. He finished the tournament with a one-under 215. Leading the Lions once again on the season was freshman Jason D'Amore. He has led the Lions in every tournament this season and he did it again by coming one stroke shy of his own record with a final round of 65. It was the best round of the entire tournament and moved him from 21st after two rounds all the way to fourth with a three-round total of 210 (six-under par). He finished shooting a first round 76 and a second round 69. Wrapping up the Lions scores were Chaz Inouye with a 228 (t-58th), Brendan von Doehre with a 232 (t-68th) and Jason Wilk at 245 (t-102nd).
Pala Mesa
The final round push was made possible by the play of sophomore Brendan von Doehren and junior Chaz Inouye. The pair finished with rounds of 70 on the final day. The 70s came after a pair of tough rounds for both von Doehren and Inouye, who finished 34th and 47th respectively. Inouye finished with a 231 (plus-15) while von Doehren had a 227 (plus-11). Leading the Lions once again was freshman Jason D'Amore. The first-year player has led the Lions in every event this season as he finished 31st overall at Pala Mesa. D'Amore shot a first round 72 and recovered after a second-round 81 with a final round of 73. He finished with a 226 (plus-10). Rounding out the Lions' play was freshman Jason Wilk and Josh Escobedo. Wilk finished with a 243 and Escobedo with a 244.
All-WCC, Again
Sophomore Chaz Inouye of the Loyola Marymount University men's golf team set history with his eighth place finish in the 2004 West Coast Conference Championships at Riverbend Golf Club in Madera, Calif. The Wailuku, Hi, native became the first Lion to earn All-WCC honors in back-to-back seasons. Inouye, who finished third in his first season in 2003 to earn WCC Freshman of the Year honors, finished 2004's final round with a 76 to earn a three-round total of 219. He finished alone in eighth place and became the first LMU player in program history to have two top-10 finishes in the WCC Championship, both coming in back-to-back seasons. The top-10 finish allowed Inouye to earn WCC All-Conference Honorable Mention honors. On the season Inouye finished leading the Lions with a round average of 75.19, a half stroke higher than his average as a freshman.
Academic Honors
Loyola Marymount athletics placed five student-athletes on the West Coast Conference's Spring All-Academic team, the conference announced. Golf's Chaz Inouye, men's tennis' Carlos Malet, and Naomi Hoogestefer, Caitlin McClain, and Erin Ludwig of women's crew all earned the academic all-conference honor. This season, Inouye became the first LMU golfer to twice finish in the top 10 at the WCC Championships and the first to earn back-to-back All-WCC recognition. The sophomore, who was the 2003 WCC Freshman Golfer of the Year, holds a 3.37 cumulative grade point average in communication studies.
In the Pros
Former golfer and 1997 graduate of Loyola Marymount University Scott Heyn qualified for the PGA Tour's Nissan Open, which opened play Feb. 18 at the Riviera Country Club, Pacific Palisades, Calif. Heyn played for the Lions' golf team from 1995-97 and had an impressive career. He was the first LMU player to earn all-conference honors in the West Coast Conference. He finished his senior season with a fourth place finish in the WCC Championships. In his career at LMU, Heyn led the Lions for low score in six tournaments, including his best three-round finish of 217 at the Santa Clara Invitational on Nov. 19, 1996. He finished in fifth place out of 44 golfers with a score of one-over par.
Head Coach
Alex Galvan became just the second head coach of the Loyola Marymount University men's golf team in the history of the program when he was hired in 2002. In two seasons with the program, Galvan has led the team to a pair of fifth place finishes in the West Coast Conference Championships. In the process, however, he has built a team with its best recruitting classes. For the first time in program history the team had a WCC Freshman of the Year in 2003 when Chaz Inouye took third in the WCCs a year ago. Galvan then helped Inouye earn All-WCC honorable mention honors in 2004, the first time a player has earned back-to-back WCC honors in program history.
- GO LIONS -
