After a solid summer of amateur tournaments, the UCSD men’s golf team will begin its fall season on Sept. 28 and Sept. 29 at the Western Washington Invitational.
The Tritons return with their top two golfers from last season. Junior Keith Okasaki will take over captain duties and claims the number one spot on the roster, after leading UCSD last season with a 33rd-place finish at the NCAA Central/West Regional and a 74.2 stroke average.
Senior Raj Samra is returning, as well. Samra had an up-and-down season last year, playing well through the first half but struggling later in the season.
Okasaki and Samra will be joined by junior-college transfer Richard Morris in the No. 3 spot, and sophomores Mike Tilghman and Mike Neustadt in the fourth and fifth positions, respectively. With four of the top five players returning from last season, head coach Mike Wydra is optimistic heading into the season.
‘Based on the quality of play this summer, we will be much improved this year,’ Wydra said. ‘They have all played in a variety of amateur tournaments, starting with the U.S. Open Qualifying tournament. Our players had low rounds in big tournaments, which is a good indicator of how they’ll play throughout the year.’
Wydra has no doubt that returning the No. 1 and No. 2 men along with adding Morris, will give the Tritons a competitive edge in what is arguably the toughest region in the nation. Last season, teams from the West Region finished first, second and sixth at the NCAA National Championships, with Sonoma State winning the national title.
‘It’s such a tough region that just hanging around would be pretty good,’ Wydra said. ‘But in the infamous words of Ben Crenshaw before the final day at the 1999 Ryder Cup, I have a good feeling [about this season].’
Wydra’s hopes will be tested against a stellar field at the WWU Invitational. The Tritons look to improve on last year’s seventh-place finish against a field that includes reigning national champion Sonoma State. In each of the past three years, UCSD has steadily bettered its previous year’s finish.
Against such top competition, Wydra said he has a few tricks concealed. Wydra’s tactics revolve around his players’ mindset within their group.
‘They need to refuse to lose to anyone in their group,’ Wydra said. ‘One player can’t affect the overall war. But if each of our players can win his battle within his group, then we as a team can win the war.’
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