May 13, 2009

Complete Release in PDF Format

LMU senior Greg Moss earned an automatic qualification to an NCAA Regional thanks to his win at the 2009 West Coast Conference Championships. He has been placed in the regional hosted by the University of San Francisco at Lake Merced Golf Course in Daly City, Calif. First round action begins on Thursday, May 14 and runs through Saturday, May 16.

FOLLOWING MOSS
Hole-by-hole live scoring will be available via Golfstat.com and will be posted on the USFDons.com website following each round. Here are some links: Tournament Central • Live Scoring.

SENIOR Greg Moss
LMU men's golf senior Greg Moss, using a three-round 209 to win the 2009 West Coast Conference individual championship on April 14, was named first-team All-WCC as the conference released its 2009 Men's Golf Postseason Awards on April 15. Moss led the Lions with low score in seven of the 11 tournaments in the 2008-09 season. Moss was the only player in the field of 40 to open the tournament with rounds under 70 on Monday, April 13. He opened with a 67 and followed that with a 68. His final round 74 on a lengthened course at Hiddenbrooke Golf Course in Vallejo, Calif., made him the second Lion to earn WCC Champion honors. Moss lowered his season average to 72.8 and his career number to 74.4. Moss led the Lions at the Del Walker Intercollegiate with a 213, at the Kuaui Collegiate Invite with another 213, at the USC Collegiate with a 220, at the Braveheart Classic with a 219, at the Anteater Invitational with a 228 and then a 218 at the Colorado-Stevinson Ranch Invitational.

INSIDE THE REGIONALS
Thirteen teams and ten individuals not on those teams will compete at each of three regionals while the other three regionals will have 14 teams and five individuals not on those teams. The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams will advance to the finals from each regional. At least one Lion has played in a NCAA regional since 2006 when the team won the WCC title and advanced all the way to the NCAA Men's Golf Championship. In 2007 Brian Locke went as an individual and then in 2008 both Locke and Jason D'Amore went to the West Regional. Greg Moss advances to the 2009 regional thanks to his three-round 209 at the WCC Championships to win the individual title. It is the third time in the last four years a Lion has won the title. 2009 NCAA WEST REGIONAL FIELD (By Seeding): 1- Southern California, 2- Texas A&M, 3- Arizona State, 4- San Diego State, 5- UC Davis, 6- Oregon, 7- New Mexico, 8- Colorado, 9- UC Irvine, 10- Kansas State, 11- Oregon State, 12- San Diego, 13- San Francisco. INDIVIDUALS: 1. Grant Doverspike, Fresno State; 2. Brady Johnson, Brigham Young; 3. Nick Delio, Cal State Northridge; 4. Scott Smith, Nevada; 5. Geoff Gonzalez, Cal Poly; 6. Robbie Fillmore, Brigham Young; 7. Mark Hubbard, San Jose State; 8. Kevin Tucker, Washington State; 9. Bhavik Patel, Fresno State; 10. Greg Moss, Loyola Marymount

2008 POSTSEASON RESULTS
May 15-17, 2008 -- NCAA West Regional
Gold Mountain Golf Club - Olympic Course -- Bremerton, WA
Par 72, 7111 yards -- 140 players
Loyola Marymount  - Individual Only
Jason D'Amore 	77	76	76	229	+13	t-79th
Brian Locke 	74	76	80	230	+14	t-91st
2007 POSTSEASON RESULTS
May 16-19, 2007 -- NCAA West Regional
Karsten Golf Course -- Tempe, AZ • Par 72, 7057 yards -- 10 players
Loyola Marymount  - Individual Only
Brian Locke  	69	67	67	203	-13	t-7th
2006 POSTSEASON RESULTS
5/20/2006 -- NCAA West Regional
(OMNI Tucson National Golf Club -- Tucson, AZ)
Par 72, 7500 yards -- 27 teams, 141 players
Loyola Marymount  	284	281	282	847	-17	t-6th
Brian Locke  	70	67	69	206	-10	t-5th
Jason D'Amore  	74	68	69	211	-5	t-29th
Chaz Inouye  	71	71	71	213	-3	t-38th
Josh Escobedo  	69	76	73	218	+2	t-72nd
Louie Bergna  	81	75	82	238	+22	t-138th
6/3/2006 -- NCAA Men's Golf Championship
(Crosswater Club -- Sunriver, Ore.)
Par 72, 7638 yards -- 30 teams, 156 players
Loyola Marymount  	300	312	303	915	+51	30th
Brian Locke  	74	74	72	220	+4	t-63rd
Josh Escobedo  	77	80	77	234	+18	t-142nd
Chaz Inouye  	73	81	80	234	+18	t-142nd
Louie Bergna  	79	82	74	235	+19	t-146th
Jason D'Amore  	76	77	84	237	+21	t-151st

INSIDE THE LIONS
The Lions finished the 2009 West Coast Conference Championships in second place, just one stroke behind USF. They finished the season playing some of their best golf with five straight top-5 team finishes, including the team's tournament title at the USF Triumph on March 16-17. The Lions are averaging just over 291 per round as a team, which ranked second best this season in the WCC, trailing San Diego's 288. The Lions were ranked second by Golfstat in terms of Division Rating in the WCC with a 34. San Diego is tops with an eight. The Lions finished the 2009 season with its best stroke average in program history. It continued a trend under Head Coach Alex Galvan. Since taking over the program, the Lions have lowered their averaged each year.

THE 2009 WCC CHAMPIONSHIPS
LMU men's golf senior Greg Moss finished the 2009 West Coast Conference Championship at seven-under par, winning the individual title by one stroke. As for the team title, the Lions suffered a heartbreaker, falling by just a single stroke to San Francisco at Hiddenbrooke Golf Course in Vallejo, Calif. The team title race was one for the record books as the top-four teams finished within four strokes of each other. The Dons used some late hole magic to overcome a two stroke deficit to give the WCC their fourth different champion in the last four years. The Lions won it in 2006, Pepperdine in 2007, San Diego in 2008 and now USF. The same four were involved in the classic battle. The Dons finished with final round 297 to wrap-up the tournament with a three-round 862. LMU posted a 294 to take second with an 863. San Diego and Pepperdine finished tied at third with an 866. The Toreros worked back into contention with a final round 288. Pepperidne posted a 292. The four-stroke difference is the closest margin between the top half in league history. The previous margin was nine strokes in 2007 and 1983. LMU's 863 is the program record at the WCC Championships for 54 holes, snapping the record of 872 set in 2006. For the Lions, they started the day at four behind USF, who used one of the best rounds in WCC history - a second round 271 - to take the lead on Monday. The Dons stretched the lead over the Lions to as many as 10 as the teams made the turn to the back nine. That is when the Lions took advantage of the lengthened championship hole placement on par-72, 6,762 Hiddenbrooke course. The scores began to rise and the Lions stayed consistent, erasing the Dons' lead. In holes 10 through 15, the Lions scoring four of Moss, Brian Locke, Jake Sarnoff and John Lim combined to go even par. On the same holes, USF struggled, with their scoring four going a combined plus-12. The Lions managed to take a two-stroke lead on the Dons with the final three holes to go. On the final three holes, LMU combined to go two-under par to go to one-under for the tournament. However, the Dons responded to go a combined five-under par to take the title. As for Moss, he becomes the second individual champion in program history, joining two-time champion Locke. Moss, who started the day at nine-under par, overcame five bogies, including four in the first five holes of the back nine. He added two birdies on the back nine to post a final round 74 and win his first tournament title with a three-round 209. Like the team score, the 209 for Moss was the school record for low three-round score at the WCC championship. He breaks Locke's record of 210 set in 2006 at Saddle Creek Golf Club. Three others joined Moss in the top-20, with Locke also finishing with a 74 in the final round for a tournament score of 217, one over par. He finished in a tie for 15th. Shooting the Lions' low round on the day was the youngsters of the roster. Sophomore John Lim and Jake Sarnoff matched each other the entire tournament, both posting rounds of 73 on Tuesday. They both shot 71 and 75 in the first and second rounds to finish at 219 for the tournament. They tied for 19th. Junior Blake Nicolai finished with a 228, good for a tie at 32nd, and led the field in pars with 39.

FIRST PLACE
Senior Brian Locke holds the LMU record for tournament wins in a career with six entering into the WCC Championships, two of which came in the conference tournament. He had four wins in the 2006-07 season, winning his second straight WCC title in 2007. John Lim and Greg Moss joined Locke on this list this 2008-09 season. Here is a look at the first place finishes:

First Place Finish - Tournament
Greg Moss (4/14/09)	209 (-7)
	WCC Championships

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

TRIUMPH
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.

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 finished 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 has made 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 finishes with a 73.0 average this season and a 72.2 average in his career. He has 37 career top-20 finishes, 19 of which have been top-10 and 15 of those have been top-five. All are school records. He holds the record for rounds under par (23 in 2006-07) and the record for low round (64, twice). He has eight of the top-10 low-54 scores, including the 203 he shot in the NCAA West regional in 2007.

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 led the Lions this season with a 72.7 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. He has eight top-20 finishes, a pair of top-10 and the one top-five. 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.