University of California Athletics

Tournament to start on Thursday in Mexico.

Feb. 2, 1998

BEARS TRAVEL TO MEXICO: The California men's golf team goes international this week when the Bears travel to the International Intercollegiate Golf Tournament in Monterrey, Mexico. The tournament , which is now in its 26th season, will be contested in a three-day, 54-hole format. Considered one of Mexico's finest courses, Club Campestre plays to approximately 6,896 yards and is a Par 72. The 1998 International Intercollegiate is an official stop on this year's Rolex Collegiate Golf Tour.

TOURNAMENT FIELD: Twenty college golf teams will vie for this year's international Intercollegiate title. Among the group are four which rank in the Top 50 on the MasterCard/IGA chart, including No. 17 Brigham Young, No. 40 Cal, No. 41 Southeastern Louisiana and No. 44 Sam Houston State. Two others, San Jose State and Tennessee, although not currently ranked, did advance to the last year's NCAA Championships in Evanston, Ill. The rest of the field includes: Air Force; Baylor; Club Campestre (Monterrey); Colorado; Missouri; North Texas; Rice; San Francisco; SMU; Southwestern Louisiana; Stephen F. Austin; Texas Tech; Wichita State; and Wisconsin.

CAL'S LINEUP SET FOR INTERNATIONAL INTERCOLLEGIATE:
Head Coach Steve Desimone has selected the following players to represent Cal in the 1998 International Intercollegiate.

Fall Results

No. Player          Ht.   Wt.   Yr. Hometown/Last School               Rounds   Total   Avg     Low  Top Finish

1.  Dan Arroyo      6-0   175   So  Walnut Creek, CA/Northgate HS          9    649     72.1    66   T5th

2.  Dan Coyle       5-11  158   So  Dundalk, Ireland/St. Mary's Golf HS    9    649     72.1    69   2nd

3.  Han Lee         6-2   180   So  Cerritos, CA/Cerritos HS               6    449     74.8    72   T45th

4.  Jay Berkowitz   5-8   165   Jr  Weaverville, CA/Enterprise HS          8    591     73.9    70   T7th

5.  Adam Ainbinder  5-10  155   Fr  Huntington Beach, CA/Servite HS        3    229     76.3    75   T74th

FALL WRAP-UP: The 1997-98 Bears showed they have the talent to be one of the top teams in the country during the fall, winning the first two tournaments of the campaign. Cal kicked off the season with three-round total of one-over-par 865 to take the Falcon-Cross Creek Invitational, Sept. 12-14. Cal had four golfers finish in the Top 20 with Dan Coyle's 3-under-par 71-69-72--212 second place total leading the way. Just 10 days later the Bears won their second fall tournament at the Pacific Invitational firing a team total of 15-under 849 to take the title. Dong Yi's 8-under-par 73-67-68--208 was good enough to place him fourth overall, while Dan Arroyo (66-73-70--209) finished in fifth. Cal wrapped up the fall season with a disappointing 15th at the Nike Northwest Invitational Oct. 6-7 in Corvallis, Ore., shooting an 33-over-par three-day total of 897. Cal was in 17th place after the first two rounds, but fired a 293 over the final 18 holes to move up two notches. Individually, Cal's highest finisher was junior Dan Arroyo (74-74-72--220).

A LOOK AT THE GOLDEN BEARS: The 1998 Bears have a roster that includes five juniors, three sophomores and three freshmen. Sophomore Dong Yi (Alameda/Alameda HS), the Bears No. 1 player a year ago, posted the Bears best scoring average last season (73.8) and competed in the U.S. Amateur this past summer as well as the World Student Golf Championship Pacific Rim Tournament. However Yi, who suffered a wrist injury late in the Fall, will not be available to the Bears until Cal's March 2-3 trip to the Aldila Collegiate Invitational in San Diego. Junior Jay Berkowitz (Weaverville/Enterprise HS) had Cal's second best scoring average in 1996-97 (74.3). Last season, sophomore Dan Arroyo (Walnut Creek/ Northgate HS) was Cal's No. 3 man (74.9) and also competed at the World Student Golf Championship Pacific Rim Tournament in Japan. Junior Dan Coyle (Dundalk/Ireland) averaged 76.3 strokes in spring '97 during his inaugural collegiate season. Also returning for Cal this season are junior Steve Golditch (Northridge/Taft HS) and sophomore Han Lee (Cerritos/Cerritos HS). Newcomers to the squad are freshman Adam Ainbinder (Huntington Beach/Servite HS), freshman Walter Chun (Memphis, TN/Memphis University School), junior Josh Levin (San Francisco/USF) and freshman Craig Wolfman (Orinda/Miramonte HS).

HEAD COACH STEVE DESIMONE: Steve Desimone is in his 19th season as the head coach of the Golden Bears. Desimone, a 1970 Cal graduate and former member of the basketball team, led the Bears to a sixth-place finish in the Pac-10 last season. He has taken Cal to four NCAA West Regionals ('90, '93, '95, '97) as well as an appearance in the 1995 NCAA championships, when the Bears finished sixth in the nation. Since Desimone has been at the helm, the golf program has produced three All-Americans.