Long Beach State Gears Up For Annual Event: The Long Beach State men’s golf program is slated to host the annual Del Walker Match Play Championship February 27-28 at the Virginia Country Club in Long Beach, Calif. This year’s tournament features a multitude of the country’s top teams, including No. 2 Oregon, No. 4 UCLA, No. 10 Washington and No. 12 California. Also set to competing in the two-day event are host Long Beach State, Gonzaga, Oregon State and Washington State, along with Big West foe UC Davis.
New Face At Helm Of Long Beach Men’s Program: Long Beach State named Mickey Yokoi men’s head golf coach at Long Beach State after former head coach Ryan Ressa left the program at the end of the Fall 2011 season to pursue a career with TaylorMade Adidas Golf. Yokoi joins the 49ers after serving as associate head coach at Arizona State. Yokoi has been involved with both men’s and women’s golf programs at ASU for the past 14 years. Yokoi served as associate head coach of the men’s golf team, helping the Sun Devils to five Pacific-10 Conference titles and four regional championships the last nine seasons. He coached several top players, including 2000 U.S. Amateur Champion Jeff Quinney, two-time English Amateur Champion Paul Casey, 2001 U.S. Public Links Champion Chez Reavie, 2003 NCAA Champion Alejandro Canizares and 2009 European Amateur Champion Stephen Gross.
UC Riverside Kicks Of 2012 Spring Season: The UC Riverside men’s golf team has the honor of being the first Big West team to set foot on the golf course this spring season as they head to “The Grand Canyon State” for the Arizona Intercollegiate. The two-day event is scheduled for Monday, January 30 and Tuesday, January 31 at the Arizona National Golf Course in Tucson, Ariz. San Diego State cruised to an eight-stroke victory in last year’s event.
Cal State Fullerton Hosts Invitational: The men’s and women’s Cal State Fullerton golf teams are joining forces to host the Folino Invitational February 19-21 at the Industry Hills Golf Club located in the City of Industry. Eighteen holes will be played each day with the women playing on the “Babe Zaharias” course and the men competing on the “Ike” course. Other Big West teams joining the Titans for the three-day tournament are Cal Poly, Cal State Northridge, Long Beach State, UC Riverside (women), Cal State Fullerton, Long Beach State, UC Riverside and UC Santa Barbara (men). Non-conference teams that will be competing include Gonzaga, Sacramento State, Cal State Bakersfield, University of South Alabama, Seattle University, University of Montana, Eastern Washington (women), Pepperdine, Loyola Marymount University, Sacramento State, Oakland University and Cal State Bakersfield (men).
UC Davis Women Enter 2012 With National Ranking: UC Davis finds itself tied for 18th in the most current Golfweek/Sagarin golf ratings as it enters the 2012 spring season. The Aggies strung together a handful of successful performances in October to elevate their status. The Aggies women’s program placed seventh and ninth in its first two tournaments and then closed out the month with a team title at the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown Oct. 25-26. All five Aggie golfers are averaging 75.6 or lower, with Demi Runas leading the way with a 73.2 average, and four of the five athletes have posted at least one top 10 finish.
UC Davis’ Hansen Competes At All-America Classic: Following the conclusion of the 2011 fall season, UC Davis sophomore men’s golfer Matt Hansen was invited to participate in the Western Refining Collegiate All-America Golf Classic held at the El Paso Country Club. Hansen, who tied for 19th overall, received an invitation to the prestigious 54-hole tournament after garnering PING All-America honorable mention honors at the end of his debut season in 2010-11.
Alongside 27 of the top collegiate golfers in the country, Hansen participated in banquets on Saturday and Sunday and finished fourth in the Titleist Longest Drive Contest. Hansen was the first-ever Aggie to play at the Western Refining Collegiate All-America Golf Classic and joins such names as Davis Love III, Tiger Woods and Ricky Barnes as a participant at the exclusive event.