March 27, 2009

Complete Release in PDF Format

The LMU men's golf team will head to the 2009 Anteater Invitational hosted by UC Irvine this Monday and Tuesday, March 30-31. It will be the first of the final two touranments the Lions will play before heading into the West Coast Conference Championship in a month. The Lions are coming off their first touranment win since November of 2006, winning the USF Triumph on March 16-17.

ANTEATER INVITE
The Lions will make their third straight trip to the Anteater Invitational and fourth in the last five years. The Lions posted their best-ever finish at the tournament a year ago with a third place finish with a two-over 866. Senior Brian Locke finished second in the field of 57 golfers. This year's event will once against be held at the El Niguel Country Club in Laguna Beach. The Lions will send Locke, freshman Jake Sarnoff, senior Greg Moss, sophomore John Lim and junior Blake Nicolai. They will compete against a field of 10 teams, including Cal Poly SLO, UC Riverside, host UC Irvine, UTEP, Cal State Northridge, Portland, Sacramento State, Weber State and Arizona. LMU will have a practice round at 1 p.m. on Sunday, March 29 before starting the first round at 7:30 a.m. on Monday.

LAST TIME OUT
Led by sophomore John Lim and his first career tournament title, the LMU men's golf team won the Triumph at Pauma Valley hosted by the University of San Francisco with a final round 287, winning the tournament by 14 strokes. It is the Lions first tournament title since claiming back-to-back wins in the fall of 2006. Leading the way for the Lions was Lim, who earned his first-ever top-five finish with flawless golf. After shooting rounds of 68 and 69 on Monday to take a five-stroke lead, he shot a one-under 34 on the front nine to go up six strokes. He finished the round posting a 74 to win the tournament over teammate Brian Locke by two strokes. Lim posted a career-best 211, good for two-under par at the par-71 Pauma Valley Country Club in the bay area. Three players were tied for second, including the senior Locke with an even par 213. Locke posted a final round 70. All five Lions finished in the top-25 of the 64-man field. Freshman Jake Sarnoff finished with a final round 71 as he finished in a tie for seventh. He had a three-round total of 216 (three-over par). Senior Greg Moss posted a 72 on Tuesday and finished with a nine-over 222, good for a tie at 20th. Junior Blake Nicolai finished with a 75 in the final round, posted a 10-over 223. He was in a tie for 24th. The Lions finished with a three-round total of 856, 16 strokes better than second place British Columbia. San Francisco had two teams in the field, finishing third and fifth with scores of 872 and 881. Long Beach State finished fourth with an 880.

FIRST PLACE
Senior Brian Locke holds the LMU record for tournament wins in a career with six entering into the spring 2009 season. He had four wins in the 2006-07 season, winning his second straight WCC title in 2007. John Lim joined Locke on this list in the Lions' last tournament with a win at Pauma Valley. Here is a look at the first place finishes:
First Place Finish - Tournament

John Lim (3/17/09)	211 (-2)	USF Triumph
Brian Locke (4/17/07)	215 (-1)	WCC Championships
Brian Locke (3/30/07)	209 (-7)	Cal Poly Intercollegiate
Brian Locke (11/8/06)	206 (-10)	Hawaii Fall Intercollegiate
Brian Locke (10/31/06)	207 (-9)	Bill Cullum Intercollegiate
Brian Locke (4/18/06)	210 (-6)	WCC Championship
Jason D'Amore (3/14/06)	209 (-7)	Callaway Golf Invite
Brian Locke (10/25/05)	205 (-11)	Santa Clara Invite
Jason D'Amore (9/27/04)	203 (-13)	Vandal Fall Classic
Mike Farrell (3/4/03)	209 (-7)	CS San Marcos Invite
John Von der Ahe (9/9/96)	145 (+1)	LMU Invitational
Dan Donovan (2/6/96)	151 (+7)	Saint Mary's Invite
Mark Foster (3/1/94)	149 (+5)	SMC Invitational
John Von der Ahe (10/15/93) 	77 (+5)	Santa Clara Invite
Nick Beauvy (1981)	n/a	Sac. St. Invitational

2008-09 FINAL ROUNDS
For the final two rounds, LMU had the low round among the 11-team field at the Bill Cullum Invitational, good enough to lift them to second place at Wood Ranch Golf Course. The Lions have been impressive this season in their final rounds, posting the lowest final round score in the field during five of their tournaments on the year. After posting a tournament-low 279 in the second round at the Bill Cullum, the Lions followed with a field-leading 286 to move into second place with a final score of 855. The Lions also had the lowest score in the third round with a 274 at the Saint Mary's Invitational, a 291 at the Sycuan Collegiate Invitational, a 284 at the Kauai Collegiate Invite and a 287 at the USF Triumph.

FINAL LOCKE
Brian Locke is in his final season of collegiate golf at LMU, putting the final chapter on the best career in LMU golf history. He was named one of the top-50 players in collegiate golf by Golf World Magazine, he has been ranked as high as 46th in the nation by GolfWeek.com. The two-time All-American played in the 2007 U.S. Amateur and three straight NCAA Regional appearances. He went with the team as the WCC Champions in 2006 and then as an individual in 2007 and 2008. He is the only two-time WCC Individual Champion in conference history, winning in 2006 and 2007. He enters the Anteater Invitational with a 72.5 average this season and a 72.0 average in his career.

YOUTH IS SERVED
In seven years under Head Coach Alex Galvan, he has brought in some of the best young talent in the WCC. This season, the Lions are being paced by sophomore John Lim and yet another freshman of the year candidate, Jake Sarnoff. The first-year golfer leads the Lions this season with a 72.0 stroke average, claiming the Lions' lone top-five finish this past fall, fourth at the Bill Cullum Invitational, thanks to a career-low 209. He has a career-best 66 this season. As for Lim, he has the second-best round for the Lions on the year with a career-best 67 and his first career tournament title with the 211 at the USF Triumph.