Men’s golf team takes tourney win, defeats No. 1 ranked SCC in process
Matt Batman
Staff Reporter
For the first time since 1995, Glendale Community Colleges’ men’s golf team placed first in an Arizona Community College Conference tournament.
Not only did the Gaucho’s win, but they also defeated the number one ranked team in the nation, Scottsdale Community College.
After what coach Don Ulm predicted would be a slow start at the first tournament in Tucson, the Gauchos golf team stunned everyone, including Ulm, and took first place out of 11 teams at the South Mountain Invitational at Cottonfields Golf Club.
Perfect conditions set up a better than normal start for the GCC team, and they placed second after the first round -- six behind Pima, and two in front of the team everyone loves to hate, Scottsdale!
Leading the way for Glendale was Basile Dalberto from France who was at even par, one off the pace.
At the end of the first day Ulm was heard to state “Gauchos always bounce back!”
True to Ulm’s word, bounce back they did!
Before beginning the second round Ulm told the boys that he expected Scottsdale to come back hard, and if put under pressure Pima might fold.
Ulm sent the team out to play with the message “hang tough” and more importantly “have some fun! “
Matt Batman, an Australian sophomore, came in early with a 66 that matched the low round of the tournament, setting the stage for a close finish.
The result could have gone either way, coming down to the last few putts.
Dalberto showed great concentration by holing a 4-foot par putt on the 18th green, for a two stroke Gaucho victory.
“The boys deserved this today. They did the hard work and got the results,” Ulm said. “The boys totally surprised me because I honestly thought we might take another week or two to get close to this level.”
Ulm was perplexed by the team’s unexpected results.
”I don’t know what it is about the Gauchos’ team, but year in, year out they always seem to get off to a slow start and come home hard,” Ulm said.
Taking individual honors for the Gauchos were the two international players, Batman and Dalberto, finishing tied for 2nd place.
Kevin Rail and Mike Plate narrowly missed finishing in the top six.
“We have a good mix of young men this year,” said Ulm.
“A few sophomores to add maturity, and a few more freshman that keeps everyone, including me, on their toes.
This is the most comfortable I’ve ever felt with a group of players”
Ulm compares the current atmosphere of the team to the team of 1995 when the GCC team won twice.
“I think that it would be fair for me to say that this year’s team has the potential to surpass past Gaucho performances, including the 1995 team,” Ulm said. “I can say this without adding extra pressure to them (the team), because I think once they realize that they can mix it with the best, then only good things will come from it.’
Ulm has raised the bar higher, but not without the players’ affirmation.
Rail, the only returning player from last year’s starting five believes that Scottsdale may be somewhat of a threat.
“I think that we can beat Scottsdale again, but it’s going to be a lot of hard work to take their number one ranking from them,” Rail said.
Scottsdale won the first tournament at Randolph Golf Club by a massive 30 shots.
Comments from coaches and returning players were that this year’s Scottsdale team was better than last year.
Scottsdale Community College seems to attract the best junior college players in the country.
The Scottsdale teams would have no trouble competing with the top division one teams in the country.
“This team has a real chance of doing something no other Gaucho team has done,” Rail said. “Our goals still haven’t changed much; we still want to place in the top five in the nation. But if we can compete with Scottsdale week in week out, then we might have to re-assess.”
Two weeks before the boys got off to a bad start again, placing 5th after the first round at Randolph GC, and 22 shots behind the leaders Scottsdale.
Showing real Gaucho spirit, the team pulled back to finish third with a strong second day result, led by Plate who again narrowly missed a spot in the top six.
The team has to place in the top four of the conference in the end of year standings to get a berth at the nationals held in Alabama.
This year’s Gauchos’ golf team seems well on track to accomplish their goal of reaching the nationals, and who knows, maybe another result that no one expected.
pull quote “The boys deserved this today. They did the hard work and got the results...”
_ Don Ulm Men’s Golf Coach |
