UC Irvine Notebook : Golfers Are Dedicated to the Sport They Love

Not too many people know who they are. They get up early, go to bed early, miss a lot of school and drive everywhere they go.

They are the UC Irvine golfers.

Golf is a game of dedication, and the UC Irvine team proves that every day. While fans were turning out for women’s volleyball matches and men’s basketball games, the golf team was quietly doing its thing, making pilgrimages to golf courses around the western United States since early October.

“These guys are either studying, playing, practicing or sleeping,” said Coach Steve Ainslie. “They miss a lot of school and are always having to juggle their classes.”

Despite that fact, the golf team has one of the highest cumulative grade-point averages of any Irvine athletic team, with members such as engineering major Craig Inaba and computer science major Steve Puck, who both made the dean’s list.

“They’re a special breed,” said Ainslie. “What it comes down to is the same type of discipline that golf takes.”

Ainslie himself is an example of dedication. The Irvine coach for nine years, he started the job while working as the entertainment director at the Disneyland Hotel. Ainslie’s younger brother was on the team, which didn’t have a coach.

So Ainslie volunteered and continued to do so for his first five years, during which time he quit his job at the hotel, giving up the salary and benefits to concentrate on golf.

In 1984, Ainslie started getting paid. That was the same year he was selected Pacific Coast Athletic Assn. coach of the year.

Under Ainslie’s direction, Irvine has continued to build the program, but it still doesn’t have the kind of funds Ainslie believes he needs.

“We have one-tenth the budget of most of the other schools,” he said. “We have to drive everywhere we go, and all the guys are walk-ons. What do they get? Way less than tuition.”

But, Ainslie pointed out, most guys who play golf aren’t as worried about full rides as other athletes are.

“Socioeconomically, that’s the way it works out,” Ainslie said. “They grow up around country clubs.”

Freshman Mike Suckling is an example of an athlete who is more concerned about education and less about a scholarship. A second-team All-American at Torrey Pines High School in San Diego, Suckling--now playing in the No. 2 spot on the Irvine team--was recruited by other schools, including Fresno State.

“But I really wanted to get into a UC school,” Suckling said.

He and the others practice at 7 a.m. and organize their schedules around tournaments. Last weekend was a typical trip. The team left Saturday morning for Turlock and the Cal State Stanislaus tournament, in which the Anteaters finished fourth. They practiced Sunday, played Monday and Tuesday and drove back Tuesday night in time for classes Wednesday.

Ainslie has been impressed with the depth of this season’s team, on which five different players have been in the No. 1 spot. The team recorded four straight second-place finishes earlier in the spring. And last week, the Anteaters won the Anteater Invitational, soundly beating UCLA and edging USC by one stroke, both traditional powers.

But the Anteaters aren’t necessarily playing for glory. A lot of it has to do with playing on such exclusive courses as the Olympic Club in San Francisco.

“Sometimes I get fed up with the sacrifices and wonder if it’s worth it,” said junior Price Shoemaker, who is currently playing No. 1. “But it’s a big privilege, playing on these exclusive courses. I wouldn’t even get on those courses if I didn’t play on the team.”

The Anteater men’s and women’s track teams will play host to Fresno State and San Diego State in a three-way meet Saturday. Field events begin at 11:30 a.m., and the running events begin at 1:15 p.m.

Fresno State is the defending PCAA champion in men’s and women’s track and field. The Bulldog men, who have won the PCAA title five times in a row, are ranked 13th in the nation. The Fresno women are ranked 10th. Both teams are strong in field events. This season, Fresno’s Lacy Barnes threw the discus 199-feet 2-inches, the leading mark in the nation this year.

“Fresno was very strong last year, and they’re not looking any worse this year,” Irvine Coach Danny Williams said. “They dominate in the field events. But on track, we have our strength. It’ll be bloodshed.”

Irvine’s women are ranked 20th in the nation and the men are ranked 22nd.

Last Saturday at the Fresno Relays, Irvine sophomore Buffy Rabbitt narrowly missed qualifying for the NCAA championships in the 1,500 meters with a time of 4 minutes 19.89 seconds, which was .14 seconds off the qualifying mark. Senior Judy McLaughlin finished fourth in the 1,500 meters with a lifetime best of 4:23.45.

Among the men, Rod Brower finished second in the 800 meters with a season-best 1:49.15.

The Anteater baseball team stopped its PCAA slide over the weekend, taking two of three from UC Santa Barbara. The Anteaters are 23-20-1 overall and 3-6 in the PCAA.

Irvine seniors John Seeburger and Jeff Oberdank continue to hit well. Seeburger is looking to break his own school record for doubles, which he set with 23 last season. This season, he already has 17 and is batting .360.

Sunday against Santa Barbara, Oberdank went 2 for 4 for his 25th multiple-hit game. Oberdank, who is batting .369, will tie the school’s single-season hit record with 12 more hits. He now has 76.

Last week, Anteater tennis player Trevor Kronemann had great success playing in the No. 1 spot in place of Mark Kaplan, who was ill. Kronemann, ranked 56th in the nation, defeated fourth-ranked Scott Melville of USC, 6-1, 1-6, 7-6, and then beat eighth-ranked Greg Failla of Cal State Long Beach, 6-1, 6-1. The sixth-ranked Anteaters lost to USC, 5-2, but they took revenge against Long Beach, which knocked Irvine out of the NCAA tournament last season. Irvine beat the 49ers, 7-2.

The women’s tennis team, which had not played a match in 23 days, won all three of its matches and the championship at the Cougar Classic in Houston last weekend. Irvine beat Lamar, 7-2, and Rice, 5-4, in the first two rounds, and defeated Utah in the championship match, 6-3.

Anteater Notes

The men’s volleyball team has won three of its last four matches, beating UC San Diego and Chapman last week before losing to La Verne. Sunday, the Anteaters will play host to Hawaii for their last home match of the season. . . . The Irvine sailing team, ranked sixth in the nation, will compete this weekend in the Southern Series No. 6-7 at Mission Bay. . . . The Irvine track and field team is hosting a reunion for all former members of the Anteater track team and their supporters Saturday night at Silky Sullivan’s in Fountain Valley, after the meet.