UC IRVINE NOTEBOOK : Depth Is the Golf Team’s Ace in the Hole

For a change, the UC Irvine men’s golf team finds itself in the middle of the fairway with a clear view of the pin. Many times at this point in past seasons, the Anteaters seemed to be stuck in a sand trap with nothing but a rake for help.

But with an effective mix of talented young players and experienced seniors playing this season, Irvine might earn its first berth in the NCAA West Regional, which is scheduled next month in Tucson. Official invitations will be extended next week, Anteater Coach Steve Ainslie said.

First, however, the improved Anteaters must get through the competitive Big West Conference tournament Monday and Tuesday at Sandpiper Golf Course in Goleta.

In the Anteaters’ last appearance at Sandpiper, March 26-27, they finished third in the 22-team Pacific Coast championships.

Irvine, the 1975 NCAA Division II champion, has never finished higher than fourth in the Big West tournament and was sixth last year.

Awaiting UCI at the first tee Monday will be Nevada Las Vegas, ranked second nationally, Fresno State, San Jose State and University of the Pacific--all ranked in the top 20. Irvine is No. 32.

“This is the best team we’ve ever had here,” said Ainslie, who has been coaching the Anteaters for 13 seasons. “Depth makes this team so good. It’s not just that we have two really good players. We have 10 really good players.”

Only five can play at a time, which has helped to push all concerned into better performances. Plus, the Anteaters’ depth takes some of the pressure off the top players.

“It’s nice in that a guy can say, ‘If I have a bad day, somebody else can pick me up,’ ” Ainslie said.

William Yanagisawa, a sophomore who has consistently been the Anteaters’ top player, can’t imagine the team’s competitive nature being anything but helpful.

“It’s not cutthroat, it’s not like that at all,” he said.

All this winning is something new to Joey Sugar, a senior who usually isn’t far behind Yanagisawa.

“It’s really exciting,” he said. “This is the best team I’ve ever played for.

“If you look at all the best teams in the nation, their fifth players are as good as their No. 1s. It’s been really tough for us to say who’s going to be the low scorer for a tournament.”

Senior Lyle Archer, junior Adam Horodyski and freshman Mark Watanabe will probably fill out the Anteaters’ lineup Monday.

The top 18 teams from the western United States will advance to the West Regional next month at Tucson, and the top nine there advance to the NCAA finals.

Plotting and planning: Fresh from winning the Big West championship at Ojai Sunday, the Anteater men’s tennis team needs at least one victory in weekend matches against UCLA and Texas to earn a bid to the NCAA tournament, Coach Greg Patton said Tuesday.

“We play Texas (Sunday at Austin) so that becomes . . . not a big match . . . it becomes a colossal match,” he said.

The Anteaters are one of 10 teams seeking four at-large bids to the NCAA tournament, which is scheduled May 15-24 at Athens, Ga. Bids will be announced May 10.

Sunday’s 49-42 victory over Fresno State gave the Anteaters their ninth conference championship in Patton’s 13 seasons as coach.

“We survived (at Ojai) and now we’re in search of the NCAA Holy Grail,” he said.

Brett Hansen-Dent, a sophomore from Newport Harbor High, earned Big West player of the year honors after defeating David Decret of UC Santa Barbara, 4-6, 7-6, 6-4, for the No. 1 singles title. Hansen-Dent also teamed with Marco Zuniga to win the No. 1 doubles title.

The victories kept Hansen-Dent’s winning streak at Ojai going strong. As a high school senior, he defeated Jon Leach of Laguna Beach (now at USC) to win the 18-and-under title and last year won at No. 2 singles as a freshman.

“If I were him I’d move a cot to Libbey Park,” Patton said. “I bet the people of Ojai are thinking about naming a street after him. Brett Hansen-Dent Boulevard, or something like that.”

Track update: Running at storied Franklin Field in Philadelphia last week, Traci Goodrich lowered her personal best 13 seconds by finishing the women’s 5,000 meters at the Penn Relays in 16 minutes 39.12 seconds.

The Anteater men’s team was third in the distance medley relay in a season-best time of 9:46.67. Clay Biddle ran the opening 1,200 meters in 3:01.4, Sean O’Leary covered 800 in 1:51.6, Dustin James ran the 400 in 46.6 and Kevin Harris anchored the 1,600 in 4:06.9.

At an invitational meet at Azusa Pacific, Marieke Veltman finished fifth in the heptathlon and missed the school record by a point. Veltman scored 5,366 points, and Karin Grelsson holds the Anteater mark with 5,367.

The men’s and women’s teams will compete next in the Big West championships May 8-9 at Fresno State.

Broom ball: The Anteater baseball team is out of the Big West race, but it still managed a three-game sweep of San Jose State last weekend, effectively knocking the Spartans out of contention.

Jeff Heath, who pitched a three-hitter in UCI’s 4-0 victory over San Jose State Saturday, was named the conference’s pitcher of the week Monday. It was the second complete game this season for Heath, who had a no-hitter through 7 2/3 innings.

Irvine (20-23, 8-10 in conference) plays a three-game series against Cal State Fullerton (32-13, 13-5 and tied for second with Cal State Long Beach) Friday (at 7 p.m.), Saturday (1 p.m.) and Monday (7 p.m.) at Fullerton.

Basketball awards: Elgin Rogers, dismissed from the team by former Coach Bill Mulligan in 1991, was named the Anteaters’ most improved player in 1992 at the team’s awards banquet Tuesday night. Rogers, a senior forward, started 20 games and averaged 10 points and five rebounds for Irvine (7-22, 3-15).

Gerald McDonald, a senior guard, won awards for most valuable player and best defender. David Hollaway, a senior guard, earned the conditioning award.