Best of sports for spring 2000

Hole No. 7 not heaven for 49ers

The seventh hole was not so lucky for the Long Beach State men's golf team this Friday at the Virginia Country Club.

"I hit two in the water," said LBSU golfer Brian Merrick about the seventh hole. "After that I kept it together."

The 49ers hit seven balls in the water on the par three hole.

Shooting 14 over par for that hole and for the day brought the LBSU a third place finish in the 4th Annual 49er Collegiate Classic, its first tournament of the spring season.

"Today was disappointing," said LBSU Head Coach Bob Livingstone. "We had an opportunity to really solidify our position, but we blew it on one hole."

LBSU played host to 15 different teams in the three rounds of golf were played over the course of two days.
Alabama-Birmingham won the tournament, and UC Santa Barbara came in second. The top finisher overall was UAB's Daniel Ozley, who shot 213 for even par.

Merrick was the low scorer for the 49ers. He shot a total score of 218 for three rounds to earn a seventh-place finish individually.

LBSU's Kevin Wurtz wasn't far behind with a total of 219. Other LBSU finishers were Steve Mena with 220 and John Mallinger with 221.

"I putted well the whole tournament and I didn't really make that many bad mistakes," Merrick said. "But there is no reason we shouldn't have won on our home course. Our whole team didn't play up to its ability."

"This is another tournament where we didn't really hurt ourselves, but we didn't do anything to help ourselves either," Livingstone said.

Merrick has high hopes for the team.

"I expect to win. I want to get to regionals and for our team to do well," he said.

The 49ers have a two-week break, and then they will get a chance to redeem themselves as they travel to Lompoc, where UC Santa Barbara hosts the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate March 13-14.

This story originally ran in its entirety Feb. 29.