Men's golf wins Purple and Red Invitational

By Brian Witter

For six years, the Santa Clara men's golf team has gone without a victory in every tournament they have played outside of the city of Santa Clara.

That all changed yesterday when the Broncos, under new head coach Rob Miller, captured the Purple and Red Invitational at the Valley View Golf Course in Layton, Utah.

The Wildcats of Weber State could not hold onto their second-round lead and succumbed to Santa Clara's final round score of 285 with a dizzying seven-under-par on the last four holes of the day. In the first two rounds, the Broncos finished with scores of 287 and 283 respectively which found them in second place on Monday night.

"We have a really solid group of leaders that are seniors who have been around for a few years and help out the younger guys who may struggle a bit more," Coach Miller said. "It's not always that easy after a coaching change is made and I have to give my guys a lot of respect for having the mindset to go out and win tournaments. That's one of the reasons I came to Santa Clara. The kids are very coachable and fun to work with."

Valley View is the home course for Weber State. The invitational, held just outside of Salt Lake City, included 14 schools from around the West Coast. Three other schools from the West Coast Conference participated, including Loyola Marymount, San Francisco and Gonzaga.

The last win for the Broncos outside of their hometown was the Sacramento State Invitational at the Ranchero Murieta Country Club in March of 1999.

Heading into the last day of action at Valley View, a grandiose course at an altitude of 4000 meters, Santa Clara senior Eric Lillibridge shot a two-under-par 70 on Tuesday which was good enough for third place overall individually at seven-under-par. Earlier this summer, Lillibridge qualified for the U.S. Amateur Championship.

Also of note in the final round, senior Mike Nicoletti played the final three holes at two-under as junior Jong Yoon shot a one-under in his final two. Nicoletti also finished high in the individual rankings at the 10th hole shooting a two-under-par for the tournament.

The Purple and Red Invitational marks two firsts for the golf team. In addition to being the first competition of the year for the Broncos, it is also the first time that Santa Clara has even played at Valley View, much less captured the win.

Playing in the final round for the Broncos was Lillibridge, Nicoletti, Yoon, senior John Colyar and sophomore Tim Lynch. All five of the Broncos placed in the Top 40. The competition drew a field of almost 90 golfers.

"I really think these kids can compete with just about anybody," Miller said. "When I explained to some of the players how behind we were Tuesday at Valley View, they were able to step up and get the job done. It's a testament to how well this team can do when their determination sets in."

The win at Valley View is also the first for Miller at Santa Clara who was named head coach only three months ago. Miller replaced John Kennaday who left the university to accept a position at his alma mater, San Jose State.

Last year, the golf team came away with some respectable finishes by placing third at the West Coast Conference Championships in Copperopolis and 17th at the U.S. Intercollegiate hosted by Stanford.

The Santa Clara Broncos' next test will come on Oct. 10-11 at Kuna, Idaho, home of the Boise State University Broncos, followed by the annual Santa Clara University Invitational near the end of the month.

Contact Brian Witter at (408) 551-1918 or at bwitter@scu.edu.