HOT SPRINGS, Va. (June 4, 2004) – Led by sub-par rounds by senior Peter Tomasulo and junior Jeff Hood, the California men's golf team overcame cold, rainy conditions to capture the 2004 NCAA championship with a six-stroke victory over UCLA at the Homestead Resort's Cascades course.
The Golden Bears' finish capped the greatest season for golf in school history. Not only did the men's team claim its first national title, but the Cal women tied for fourth place at their NCAA Tournament May 22, led by NCAA medalist Sarah Huarte.
The Cal men, who held one-shot leads after each of the first two rounds, fell into third place Thursday (June 3), eight strokes behind the Bruins and three shots behind Kentucky. However, Cal quickly made up the deficit Friday, as Tomasulo birdied four of the first five holes and Hood was 3-under after six.
The Bears took the lead just after the turn and were up between one and four strokes most of the rest of the way. Cal's advantage finally reached six strokes when UCLA's Travis Johnson bogeyed the par-5 17th hole. Hood, who was playing with Johnson, parred the 17th and 18th to secure the win.
The Bears' 1-under 279 team score Friday was easily the best score of the day. Texas shot 6-over 286, and every other team in the field finished at 10-over or higher.
"Every second, every minute, every hour of every day, we practice for this day," said Cal coach Steve Desimone, who finished his 25th year at the helm in 2004. "We knew this was a great team heading into the year. At our first team meeting, I told the guys that before the final round, we were going to be in position to win the national championship and that's the only thing we could ask for. To have one round to win the national championship, that's all you can ask for.
"I told the kids [Thursday] that if we played one great round, we'd win the national championship, and lo and behold, here we are."
Cal entered the 30-team tournament seeded 24th and had never placed higher than sixth at the national championships – a feat the Bears accomplished in 1995 – despite qualifying for regionals each of the last eight seasons.
Cal won two tournaments in the 2003 fall – the Mid-Pines Intercollegiate in North Carolina and the Alister MacKenzie Invitational in Marin County – and rose to the No. 1 ranking early in the year.
However, the Bears were plagued by injuries much of the spring, particularly to Tomasulo (wrist) and fellow senior Scott Carlyle (back). Without Carlyle in the lineup, Cal took sixth at the Pac-10 championships, and with a refreshed Carlyle in play, tied for seventh at the NCAA regional to qualify for the national rounds.
At NCAAs, Tomasulo and Hood tied for 10th place at 2-over-par 282. Tomasulo's final round of 67 was the second-lowest score of the day, while Hood closed with a 69. In addition, Jesse Ruda and Michael Wilson tied for 33rd place at 290, while Carlyle tied for 50th at 295.
