CALIFORNIA Golden Bears 2008 CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEARS MEN’S GOLF CALIFORNIA MEN’S GOLF QUICK FACTS Location: ..................................................................................................... Berkeley, Calif. Enrollment: .............................................................................................................. 34,953 Founded: .................................................................................................................... 1868 Nickname: ................................................................................................... Golden Bears Colors: ......................................................................................... Blue (282) & Gold (116) Conference: ........................................................................................................ Pacific-10 Home Courses: .................................................Orinda Country Club and Meadow Club Chancellor: ............................................................................................ Robert Birgeneau Athletic Director: ......................................................................................... Sandy Barbour TABLE OF Head Coach: ......................................... Steve Desimone (29th Season - California ’70) E-mail: ................................................................................desimone@berkeley.edu CONTENTS Assistant Coach: ..................................... Walter Chun (Fourth Season - California ’01) 2008 Golden Bear Outlook ............ 2-3 E-mail: .................................................................................. [email protected] California Coaching Staff ............... 4-6 Golf Office Phone: .....................................................................................(510) 643-5914 2008 Player Profiles ..................... 7-16 Golf Office Fax: .......................................................................................... (510) 643-1116 Cal Golf Courses..............................17 2007 Pac-10 Finish: ..................................................................................................Ninth Fall 2007 Team/Indiv. Results .........17 2007 NCAA West Regional Finish: ............................................................................ 15th 2006-07 Tournament Results .........18 Returning Lettermen: ....................................................................................................... 7 2006-07 Team/Indiv. Results ...........19 Lettermen Lost: ................................................................................................................ 2 Cal Golf Committee .........................20 Newcomers: ..................................................................................................................... 5 Golden Bear Contributors .......... 20-22 Media Relations Golf Contact: .................................................................. John Sudsbury Honors and Awards .........................23 E-mail: ................................................................................. [email protected] Cal Golf Roster (1987-present) .......24 Office Phone: ......................................................................................(510) 643-4723 Alister MacKenzie Invitational ..........25 Web Site: ............................................................................................ www.CalBears.com Winning Is a Cal Tradition ......... 26-27 San Francisco Bay Area ............. 28-29 University of California ............... 30-31 Notable Cal Alumni ..........................32 Pac-10 Championship..... Inside Back 2008 Schedule .................. Back Cover CREDITS The 2008 California Men's Golf Media Guide was written and edited by Associate Media Relations Director John Sudsbury. Layout and design by Publications Director John Dunbar and Publications Coordinator Evan Kerr. Photos by John Dunbar and Evan Kerr, among others. Printing by U.C. Print- ing Services, Berkeley, Calif. 2007-08 MEN’S GOLF ROSTER Name Ht. Wt. Yr. Exp. Hometown (Previous School) BEAR BACKERS Brandon Beck 5-11 160 Sr. 3V Oak Park, Calif. (Oak Park HS) SUPPORT Ian Dahl 6-1 170 Fr. HS Longview, Wash (Mark Morris HS) Evan Derian 5-8 155 So. 1V Manhattan Beach, Calif. (Mira Costa HS) YOUR TEAM George Gandranata 5-10 165 Jr. 2V Jakarta, Indonesia (The Pendleton School) Bear Backers are loyal Cal alumni Stephen Hale 5-10 165 Fr. HS Bakersfield, Calif. (Garces Memorial HS) and friends who provide financial Jeff Hamm 5-9 155 Fr. HS Danville, Calif. (Monte Vista HS) support to Cal Athletics with their do- Michael Jensen 6-0 165 Sr. 3V Los Altos, Calif. (St. Francis HS) nations. Every student-athlete ben- Eric Mina 5-6 140 Fr. HS Fremont, Calif. (Bellarmine Prep) efits from their contributions, which Andrey Mindirgasov 6-2 180 So. 1V Pacific Grove, Calif. (Pacific Grove HS) underwrites the scholarships, pro- Feldman Tan 5-10 170 Fr. HS Singapore (Anderson School) grammatic needs, and academic tu- Erick Thorson 5-9 155 Jr. 2V Westlake Village, Calif. (Moorpark College) toring programs. Bear Backers also Freddy Wolfe 6-5 215 Sr. 2V Palm Springs, Calif. (College of the Desert) build our athletic facilities, including Kent Yamane 5-11 180 Sr. 1V San Jose, Calif. (Chabot College) the Haas Pavilion. Joining Bear Back- Head Coach: ....................................................... Steve Desimone (Cal 1970, 29th year) ers is the best way to support the Cal Assistant Coach: .................................................... Walter Chun (Cal 2001, Fourth year) team you care about. Call (510) 642- Operations Manager: ...........................................Curt David (Pacific 1989, Fourth year) 2427 for more information. Volunteer Assistant: ................................ Gene Bakkum (UC Davis 2000, Fourth year) 2008 CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEARS Men's Golf Media Guide 1 CALIFORNIA Golden Bears 2008 CAL MEN'S GOLF OUTLOOK Another important key for the team will DESIMONE HOPES TO MIX GOLDEN be the return to health of senior Brandon Beck who missed the fall due to illness. A BEARS INTO CHAMPIONS proven leader and a Pac-10 all-conference selection, Beck’s experience will be leaned ith a solid mix of veteran talent and young promise, on heavily by Desimone. California head coach Steve Desimone hopes to play “If we want to be a major player on the national scene, a lot of things have to fit,” Wthe part of world-famous chef and blend the Golden Desimone said. “Brandon’s going to have to play at a very high level and our other Bear men’s golf team into a championship contender in 2008. Or veterans need to play well and provide solid leadership. But for us to be a national con- more appropriately for the University of California, Desimone hopes tender, our young guys are going to have to grow quickly. If we can improve in the two to fill the role of Nobel Prize-winning scientist for the Bears. Either areas we’ve identified, then this is going to be a good golf team, no doubt about it. Our way, Cal has the ingredients for success, if it can best years are definitely ahead of us.” Cal used the fall of 2007 to work heavily find the right formula. on developing its younger players, espe- cially with seniors Michael Jensen and Kent Yamane redshirting the 2007-08 cam- paign and Beck missing the fall. Junior George Gandranata (71.7 fall average) and sophomore Andrey Mindirgasov (tied for 13th at Falcon Invitational) continued to be solid members of the lineup. Sophomore Evan Derian, who battled injuries as a rookie, looks to be back to full-health and tallied an even 72.0 stroke average in the fall. Freshmen Stephen Hale (72.2 fall av- The Golden Bears come into 2008 as erage) and Eric Mina (73.5) were both one of the premiere ball striking highly-touted rookies who have justified their early praise. Senior Freddy Wolfe is teams in the country – statistically very powerful off the tee while junior Erick Thorson and another freshman, Feldman one of the best in the nation in fair- Tan, who competed in the Falcon Invita- tional, add further depth to the Bear lineup. ways hit and greens hit in regulation. “There’s not a large margin for error,” Desimone said. “There are great college The focus in training has turned to teams and great players all over the coun- try, but you can once again make a case putting and short-game skill – and the Pac-10 is the best conference in the nation. We need the juniors and seniors to with the opening of Cal’s exclusive be our anchors. They need to put up good numbers round after round. From that, the new short-game facility, the means hope is that the younger guys will gain valu- able experience, gain confidence and put are in place for significant improve- up solid numbers. And that is what has happened so far. Stephen Hale has one ment in those areas. top 10, one top 20, and one top 25 finish in his four events. Evan Derian has played very well now that he is healthy and has Junior George Gandranata two top-eight finishes. Evan has clearly shown to be one of the best ball-strikers 2 2008 CALIFORNIA GOLDEN BEARS Men's Golf Media Guide CALIFORNIA Golden Bears on the west coast. When you look at that, we feel like we have a pretty good group heading into the spring.” “Our primary goal is to qualify and compete in the Scheduling has also been part of Desimone’s plan to develop his 2008 NCAA Championship every year. It’s pretty simple. You squad into national contenders. The Golden Bears will play a national slate