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sports:
men's golf
No seniors? No
problem
By Mike Haubrich
On-line Forty-Niner
2001 looked like
it might be a long season for Long Beach State men's golf
team -- two of the 49ers top players, John Mallinger and Brian
Merrick, graduated, and Coach Bob Livingstone was looking
at a roster devoid of any seniors.
But add a couple
of transfers from national power UNLV and the season outlook
quickly changes.
Robert Sul and
Tyler Mays, both juniors, transferred to LBSU earlier this
year. Now, the 49ers instantly have two top players to replace
the graduates.
"Vegas is
a perennial top 10 team and plays an extremely tough schedule,"
Livingstone said, "so [Sul and Mays] got to see some
of the top players and play in the strong tournaments. They're
very experienced, tournament tough [players].
Mix in 49er returnees
Nick Seymour, one of LBSU's top performers as a sophomore
last year, and sophomore Torey Edwards and The Beach's top
four instantly becomes formidable.
"I think Robert
will push Nick for No. 1, and Tyler will battle Torey for
three or four," Livingstone said. "We brought in
two national-level players who will probably be in our top
four, which means we'll be better than I thought we would
be."
Livingstone calls
sophomore Chris Gilley "the incumbent" for the squad's
fifth spot, and says freshmen James Logeman, Ryan Plummer
and Todd Saukkola "will push everybody for a spot."
The roster changes
should bode well when the 49ers compete in the Big West Championship
in April.
"The conference
will be very strong this year," Livingstone said. "I
think Pacific is the favorite and [UC] Irvine and Long Beach
should be the second choices."
That's probably
a lot better position than Livingstone expected to be in entering
the fall season, and Edwards and his teammates are ready to
compete.
"I'm pretty
stoked," Edwards said. "We got the two transfers,
so I think we'll have a pretty solid team and got quite a
bit of experience now. I think we have a real good shot of
winning the Big West and moving on to regionals and NCAA championship."
LBSU plays its
first tournament of the fall season Sept. 10-11 in the Northwest
Collegiate Classic hosted by Oregon State at the Mallard Creek
Golf Course in Corvallis, Ore.
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