Lone senior and team captain Alan Scheer will be graduating this June, leaving a large hole in UCSD’s golf squad, which finished 15th at the 2004 Division II National Championships.
“This wasn’t the year I was hoping for after last year, but it was still great to make Nationals and be ranked in the top 10 most of the year,” Scheer said.
Scheer started off the season by proving that he was a force to be reckoned with, finishing in a tie for third place at the Tritons’ first tournament of the year, the Western Washington Invitational. He had two rounds shooting 67, and finished with a 208, eight under par.
Going into the last event of the fall part of the season, Scheer finished with a 220, and a 222, respectively, at the Chico State Invitational and the Elco Invitational. These scores earned him a tie for 15th at Chico, and a tie for 33rd at Elco.
In his first tournament back in 2004, Scheer shot a 215, one under par, at the Family Motors Invitational, where he tied for an 18th place finish. In his second round, Scheer turned in a 68.
Scheer was not quite as successful in his next two tournaments, the Aztec Battle at the Lake and the Cal State San Marcos Invitational. The Battle at the Lake found Scheer tying for 33rd place, though he did improve to a tie for 25th in the Cal State San Marcos Invitational, where he shot 227, 11 over par.
Stepping things up at UCSD’s own Southern California Intercollegiate Championships, Scheer finished with a 226, 10 over par, which earned him a tie for 16th place.
Continuing his upward swing, Scheer carried his momentum into the Cal State San Bernardino Coyote Invitational, where he finished in ninth place. He had two rounds at 71, and finished with a 218, two over par.
Scheer fell into a minor slump with his next two tournaments, finishing in a tie for 23rd at the UC Davis Aggie Invitational, and dropping to a tie for 43rd at the Cal State Stanislaus Buzzini Invitational, his lowest finish of regular season play. He did manage a 223 at Davis, though, only seven over par, but turned in a 228 at Stanislaus, 12 over par, also his worst score of regular season play.
Always a clutch player though, Scheer came up big when it counted, finishing in a tie for 12th place at the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championships with a 225, nine over par. Scheer struggled in the first round with a 79, but came back with consecutive scores of 73 to help ensure the Tritons’ advancement to the NCAA Division II Super Regionals.
Scheer turned it up another notch at the Super Regionals, where he finished in a tie for eighth place with teammate Joe Dolby, with both turning in an even-par score of 216. Scheer started the tournament off with a 70, two under par, and finished with a 72 and a 74.
“The Washington tournaments were the best tournaments of the year,” Scheer said. “I played my best overall, and it’s a really fun course to play, and a fun trip overall. We don’t usually get to travel that far.”
Unfortunately for Scheer, at the most important tournament of the season, his driver head cracked. In light of this, his tie for 74th place and a score of 317 across four rounds, a mere 29 over par, are quite impressive. His score of 72 on the second day was one of the lowest scores of the championship, but after breaking his driver head, he was only able to manage scores of 83 and 82, after an 80 the first day.
“We had a really good season last year, and so we came in with high expectations this year,” Scheer said. “Our main goal was to make Nationals, and even though we would’ve liked a better performance there, it was great to accomplish our goal, and a great experience for our first time at Division II Nationals.”
Aside from Nationals, Scheer averaged scores of 74.5 in his first rounds, 73.3 in his second rounds, and 73.6 in his third rounds during the 2003-04 season. His final score average was 220.7, a little more than four over par, across three rounds. Scheer’s stroke average on the year was 73.8, .1 below the team average of 73.9.
“I plan on pursuing golf throughout the summer and see where it goes, possibly take it further,” Scheer said. “I’ll be in San Diego for at least the next year, so I look forward to watching the guys as they progress next year.”
Scheer will be competing in the San Diego City Amateur Golf Championship this year, and hopes to qualify for the U.S. Amateur Championship, as he did last summer.
“The San Diego City Amateurs is a really fun tournament at Torrey Pines,” Scheer said. “It’s one of the best tournaments of the year outside of college. I also plan to go up to Monterey to play at Spyglass at least once this summer. And the U.S. Amateurs is at the same site that I qualified for it last year, so I know I can perform there, and I have high hopes.”
