CSUN’s Chieffo Rejoins Title Hunt in Division II Golf

With a tape player clipped to his belt and the sound of the pop group Chicago filtering through the headphones covering his ears, Tony Chieffo of Cal State Northridge tried to find his putting rhythm on the practice green.

Chieffo was tied for 13th place going into the third round of the NCAA Division II men’s golf championships at the Tan-Tar-A Resort and Golf Club, so he spent Wednesday night ironing out a kink that had limited him to just three birdies in the first two days of competition on the 6,465-yard, par-71 Oaks Course.

“I wasn’t hitting the ball hard enough on my putts,” Chieffo said. “I needed to concentrate on accelerating through the ball.”

Chieffo satisfied his need for speed Thursday and made an accelerated ascent through the standings with a 1-under-par 70--the lowest round of the day--that put him in a second-place tie with John Williams of Rollins College at 9-over-par 222. Both enter today’s final round eight strokes behind Jeff Leonard of Tampa, the tournament leader and defending national champion. The top two finishers will play in the Division I championships next week at North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village.

Chieffo’s effort highlighted a 22-over 306 outing by Northridge that gave the Matadors a total of 935 and moved them from 10th into a sixth-place tie with Troy State. Defending-champion Tampa leads the tournament at 890, followed by Florida Southern (912) and Columbus College (916).

“I played pretty well the first two days but I wasn’t happy with my scores,” said Chieffo, a senior who shot 74 and 78 in the opening rounds. “Today, I kept the ball in play and drained the putts that I should have been making on Wednesday.”

Chieffo’s performance was all the more impressive on a day in which the already unforgiving Oaks Course was set up with ruthless pin placement. The unusually grainy, bentgrass greens that play as slow as Bermuda grass continued to give Northridge golfers trouble.

Chieffo, however, made four birdies and three bogeys while demonstrating course-management skills the Matadors, as a team, have rarely shown during their stay in the “Show Me” state.

Gary Finneran and Bill Cullum both shot 78 Thursday and Wayne Tyni carded an 80. Rick Irwin, who started the round tied for 11th, fell to 43rd with a team-high 86.

“We still might be able to get within striking distance of third place,” Northridge Coach Jim Bracken said. “We still haven’t had a good round as a team.”

Irwin, a freshman from Rio Mesa High, grew up in Abilene, Tex., where he took up golf at age 12 after a Little League coach with a penchant for making his players run laps soured him on baseball.

When Irwin is on his game, he lets his clubs do the talking. But when he makes a mistake, Irwin speaks for himself. Loudly.

“What I like most to do is yell,” Irwin said. “It might be gibberish and people may think I’m stupid but, hey, different strokes for different folks.”

Irwin had most of his shots working at the start of the round Thursday and was even after eight holes and in position to make a run at the leaders. But on the 528-yard, par-5 ninth hole, Irwin hit his second shot into the rough, his fourth shot into a bunker and three-putted for a triple-bogey.

Things got worse at the 12th hole, a 379-yard, downhill par-4 that challenges players with a claustrophobic fairway tightly bordered by trees. Irwin hooked his tee shot, which bounced off a cart path into the woods. By the time he reached the green and three-putted to close out the hole, Irwin had used 10 strokes and was out of contention.

“I learned today that I can hit the ball well and still not score well,” Irwin said. “Whenever I got a bad break, I’d lose my concentration.

“That’s something Tony doesn’t do. He knows how to hold onto a round and grind it out.”

Today, Chieffo will get a chance to demonstrate just how gritty he can be. His reward for being among the best in Division II is a chance to compete in his own back yard against the best from Division I.

“I’m looking forward to a good round tomorrow,” said Chieffo, who finished 13th last year. “I want to extend my college career as long as I can.”