Global Golf Post NCGA Edition

GlobalGolfPost www globalgolfpost com JAN 21 2013 NCGA RON KROICHICK E MAIL RON the take No 1 Cal Low Scores And Big Tales Cal golf coach Steve Desimone can tell a story He might embellish a few details along the way like many good storytellers but an interview with Desimone inevitably leads to long lively answers So as Desimone begins to talk about his No 1 ranked Golden Bears who start their season Jan 28 at the Arizona Intercollegiate in Tucson he takes us back to a day on the practice range a few years ago at Metropolitan Golf Links in Oakland Brandon Hagy Michael Weaver and Max Homa were hitting balls under the watchful eye of Desimone and associate head coach Walter Chun Hagy Weaver and Homa now form the core of this Cal team along with Michael Kim and Joel Stalter Back then they were young and unproven college golfers not highly recruited with solid if unspectacular track records They still made an impression on Desimone that day smacking a wide variety of shots into the distance They moved the ball right to left and left to right They hit it high and low They were impressive enough to spark fanciful thoughts in Desimones head It was one thing to see those guys one at a time and another thing to see all three together he says now I watched them hit balls for 10 to 15 minutes and I told Walter they would put us back in the hunt for the national championship And thats the way it worked out Desimone didnt tell the story to highlight his sharp eye for talent well maybe a little but rather to trace the roots of Cals return to prominence The Bears won the 2004 NCAA championship then faded from the spotlight Now on the brink of the 13 season they sit atop all the major national polls They sit there because of an off thecharts fall season Cal played in five tournaments in September and October from Minnesota and Georgia to Oregon California and Florida The Bears won four and tied for first in the other Yes they went unbeaten Hmmm think new Cal football coach Sonny Dykes would take that winning percentage The golfing Bears dropped hints about their vast potential last spring when they won the Pac 12 Championship the first conference title in school history and NCAA Stanford Regional Then they reached the semifinals of the NCAA Championship before falling to Alabama Cal fields a deep lineup anchored by Homa the lone senior among the customary starters Thats not to say hes the star in an inherently individual game these Bears embrace the team concept Great guys smart guys love the game Desimone says of his players These guys are all about the team There are no egos here and there havent been right from the start To truly trace the roots of Cals rise to No 1 drift back to that NCAA championship in 2004 Peter Tomasulo and Jeff Hood led the Bears to their first national title a victory with far reaching implications They won despite not having a regular practice facility a byproduct of Cals uncommon status as a self funded program Desimone found fundraising noticeably easier in the wake of his teams title and three years later in October 2007 the practice facility opened at Metro near the Oakland airport Its a modest layout in many ways nothing compared to Stanfords elaborate spread across the bay but the Bears no longer had to wander the Bay Area looking for places to practice Their facility covers 2 acres features two practice greens and allows players to work on any number of short game shots I dont know that the facility would have happened without the national championship Desimone says And if you look at the improvement in our short games from then to now you can go directly back to that facility Cal enters this 2013 season with a mix of skills and styles Homa brings the most size at 6 foot 2 but the lineup includes the rail thin Kim who weighs only 135 pounds and compensates for short drives with exquisite touch around the greens Stalter from France plays on his countrys national team and Weaver nearly won his countrys oldest tournament he fell in the U S Amateur finals last summer Then theres Hagy the power hitter This is ready made for Desimone so we asked him for a tale to illustrate Hagys cartoonish length off the tee It happened in September at Spring Hill Golf Club in Minnesota where the Bears launched their fall stampede by winning the Gopher Invitational One par 5 measured more than 600 yards and included a creek about 350 yards off the tee The caddie accompanying Hagys practice round group said nobody ever had cleared the creek so Desimone naturally encouraged Hagy to give it a whirl He promptly sent his tee shot soaring out of sight We looked for three or four minutes and couldnt find it Desimone says There was a fairway bunker about 30 yards past the creek and the caddie walks up and finds a ball just short of the bunker He leans down and says Brandon what are you playing Brandon tells him and the guy says This is your ball Then he got on the phone called the clubhouse and said I dont believe what Ive just seen Six or seven members were out there within 15 minutes walking with our group l Cal golf coach Steve Desimone and junior Brandon Hagy