Men’s Golf: UCLA Holds Off USC to Win Big Ten/Pac-10 Challenge

Oregon’s Matt Ma ties for fifth.

Photo: goducks.com

BANDON - UCLA held off USC by five strokes to win the team title and Oregon’s Matt Ma capped a strong fall by tying for fifth at the third annual Big Ten/Pac-10 Challenge, played Tuesday at Pacific Dunes.

USC’s Jamie Lovemark led from wire-to-wire to win the individual title. The freshman shot the low round of the day Tuesday, a 4-under 67, and finished the tournament at 4-under 209. Lovemark’s 67 was three strokes off the course record of 64, held by former PGA Tour golfer Scott Simpson.

Lovemark’s closest competition came from UCLA’s Daniel Im, who had a final round 70 to finish at 4-over 217, eight strokes back. Wisconsin’s Jeff Kaiser closed with a 73 and held on to third at 218, while Northwestern’s Jonathan Bowers was fourth at 222

Ma, a senior from Aiea, Hawaii, carded a 5-over 76 and was one of six golfers tied for fifth at 224. It was the second top five finish of the fall for Ma, who won the Northwest Collegiate Classic at the beginning of the month.

A light rain in the morning gave way to calm and sunny conditions on the back nine as the 6,633-yard, par-71 course yielded four sub-par scores -- double the average of the first two rounds.

"We saw a little bit of everything this course has to offer the last two days," said Oregon coach Casey Martin. "We had to contend with the wind yesterday and a little rain this morning, so it was a real test. This is just a tremendous opportunity for these college golfers. I think this is becoming one of the premier events in all of college golf."

UCLA was a wire-to-wire winner in the team race. The Bruins’ 8-over 291 for an 885 total was enough to prevent a charge from USC, which finished with a 290 Tuesday and was at 890 overall.

Wisconsin slipped to third at 894, while Northwestern moved up to fourth at 898, passing Stanford at 900.

Michigan State led a tightly-bunched group in the next four spots. The Spartans took sixth at 907, followed by Minnesota at 909, Washington at 910 and Oregon at 911. Indiana (918), Oregon State (928) and Illinois (932) rounded out the 12 teams.

"We did play a lot better today," said Martin, whose team moved up one spot to ninth in the final standings. "It was a good way to come back after a tough day yesterday and finish on a positive note."

Oregon freshman Marcus Sostak shot a 70 Tuesday -- one of the day’s four rounds under par -- and tied for 34th at 230.

In the conference challenge portion of the tournament, the Pac-10 defeated the Big Ten by 29 strokes, 4,488-4,517. The Pac-10 now leads the series 2-1, with both wins coming at the Bandon courses.

The Big Ten/Pac-10 Challenge was Oregon’s final competition of the fall season.

NOTES: The tournament committee has decided upon the rotation for the next three Big Ten/Pac-10 Challenges. The 2007 event will be held at Bandon’s Pacific Trails Course. In 2008, the tournament will shift back to the Glen Club, in Glenview, Ill. The 2009 tournament will return to the Bandon Dunes Course for the first time since the inaugural event in 2004.

Big Ten/Pac-10 Challenge

Team Standings - 1, UCLA, 284-310-291-885. 2, USC, 295-305-290-890. 3, Wisconsin, 300-296-298-894. 4, Northwestern, 300-306-292-898. 5, Stanford, 294-306-300-900. 6, Michigan State, 296-314-297-907. 7, Minnesota, 308-304-297-909. 8, Washington, 300-302-308-910. 9, Oregon, 305-314-292-911. 10, Indiana, 312-304-302-918. 11, Oregon State, 305-323-300-928. 12, Illinois, 303-322-307-932.

Top Individuals - 1, Jamie Lovemark, USC, 70-72-67-209. 2, Daniel Im, UCLA, 71-76-70-217. 3, Jeff Kaiser, Wisconsin, 75-70-73-218. 4, Jonathan Bowers, Northwestern, 74-73-75-222. T5, Matt Ma, Oregon, 73-75-76-224; Jorge Campillo, Indiana, 75-76-73-224; Josh Bramlett, Stanford, 72-77-75-224; Erik Flores, UCLA, 70-77-77-224; Kevin Chappell, UCLA, 72-80-72-224; Matthew Savage, Stanford, 73-76-75-224.

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