Veteran Squad Enters 2010 WCC Men's Golf Championship
4/18/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
April 18, 2010
SPOKANE, Wash. - With four golfers who were part of a record-setting performance at the 2009 West Coast Conference men's golf championship, Gonzaga University head coach Robert Gray is hopeful his team can grow and improve on last year's effort.
The Bulldogs will tee of Monday and Tuesday in the 43rd annual West Coast Conference Championship, a 54-hole event at Hiddenbrooke Golf Club in Vallejo, Calif.
Gray's lineup has seniors Derek Cheney (Richland, Wash.) and Jason Azzarito (Kettle Falls, Wash.) playing number one and three, respectively, with junior Kyle Huus (Sidney, Neb.) at number two, freshman Kevin PArkhurst (Vail, Ariz.) at number four and junior Francis Santiago (Lynnwood, Wash.) at number five.
The four upperclassmen were a part of Gonzaga's strong performance last year as Cheney and Huus tied for fifth in the WCC Championship with a school-best 214 as the Bulldogs finished fifth for their best finish in conference history, the duo earning All-WCC honors. The Bulldogs finished fifth with their WCC best 873 that bettered the 903 set in 2003 and also tied the best 54-hole total in school history. Cheney and Huus bettered the previous best 54-hole score in school history of 219 set by Souta Nozaka in '03.
Cheney brings a 74.9 stroke average into the event; Huus is at 74.2, Azzarito at 75.6, Parkhurst 76.5 and Santiago 78.0.
Inconsistency has plagued the Bulldogs for much of the year and through the first two spring tournaments. But Gray is optimistic that is behind his team.
"We definitely didn't have the start to the spring that we wanted with our first two events. However, that's behind us now and we've been improving steadily over the past month. We keep increasing our consistency and we're ready to start posting more scores under par. Now is definitely the time to do it," Gray said.
The Bulldogs opened the spring with 54-hole scores of 931and 937, but in their last two outings prior to the WCC Championship the Bulldogs shot a 636 in the rain-shortened 36-hole Bandon Dunes Championship and had an 872 in their final tune-up in the Wyoming Cowboy Classic two weeks ago.
Gray said the key to success for his team is the short game, and the course is tapered to the Bulldogs strength.
"Hiddenbrooke sets up well for us. We don't hit the ball a ton and this course can eat you up if you spray it around, as a lot of long hitters tend to do," Gray said. "So the shorter, narrow layout definitely helps us. The area has been getting a lot of rain so the rough could be quite long, adding more importance to hitting the fairway. As always, the short game plays such an important role in scores. We've been working very hard on our short games at our outdoor campus facility, A.M. Corner. It's paid strong dividends in our short games over the last two events and we're looking for that trend to continue."
Gray said he also wants his two seniors to go out strong.
"This being our last official event of their careers, it's a special time for our seniors," Gray said of Cheney and Azzarito. "Both have been strong leaders for the younger guys and we're going to try as hard as we can to win so they can experience regionals. We're definitely excited for the opportunity to keep the season going."
But the teams to beat appear to be the University of San Diego, ranked 30th in the country, and Pepperdine University, ranked 34th. Santa Clara University and Saint Mary's College are also ranked in the top 100 and could challenge the favorites.
"We surprised some people last year, and we could do it again with a veteran team returning that has played this course," Gray said. "Nothing is a given when you're talking about golf."
