COLLEGES / ALAN OTA : Bruin Golfer Adds Short Game to Her Repertoire

Elizabeth Bowman could always smack a ball off the tee. The UCLA senior won a long-drive competition in Japan last fall with a 250-yard drive.

“And I used to hit longer when I was younger since I had no real concern whatsoever for keeping the ball on the fairway,” Bowman said.

It was the short game that prevented Bowman from scoring well.

“I’d like to think that I’m in the refining mode,” said Bowman, who will lead the Bruin women in the NCAA West Regional starting today at Tucson. “Most of my effort has been with putting and chipping. And this has been my most consistent year.”

Bowman is leading UCLA with a 76.54 stroke average.

Last month, at the Pacific 10 Conference championships in Walla Walla, Wash., Bowman helped the Bruins to a second-place finish behind top-ranked Arizona State.

“I’d say she’s playing her best ever at this point in the season and will probably be an All-American,” Coach Jackie Tobian-Steinmann said.

The top 10 teams from the West Regional will advance to the NCAA championships at the University of Georgia in two weeks. After winning the national title in 1991, the Bruins finished fifth last year. Bowman tied for 37th.

She has finished in the top 10 in four of eight tournaments this year. Tobian-Steinmann thinks the 5-foot-10 Bowman makes good use of her size.

“Being tall has its advantages for her,” Tobian-Steinmann said. “The swing has a larger arc and can generate faster club-head speed. And reaching a lot of par fives in two gives her a lot of birdie opportunities.”

When Bowman drives a ball deep down the fairway, it has a way of exhilarating her teammates, says Mia Lojdahl, a freshman from Sweden.

“Even with my better drives, I’m still 10 yards behind her,” Lojdahl said.

Bowman, who will be receiving a degree in communications, is planning to try her hand at the professional tour.

“I don’t think you can play this long and not give it a try,” said Bowman, who started playing golf at age 10.

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UCLA track athletes Dawn Dumble and Beth Bartholomew had career bests on Saturday.

Dumble threw the discus 188-feet-4 at the Modesto Relays. The mark bettered the nation’s second-farthest throw of Texas El Paso junior Stella Tsikouna by more than six feet.

“The meet had nice conditions and a good wind,” said Dumble, who also finished fourth in the shot with a put of 55-2 1/4. “And since my training has been going so well lately, I thought it was bound to happen sometime soon.”

Her throw is second on the all-time UCLA list and ranks fourth in Pac-10 history.

Bartholomew ran a 4 minute 24.91 second 1,500 meters at the Occidental Invitational to become the current Pac-10 leader.

At this time last year, Bartholomew was knocked unconscious and suffered a concussion after colliding with her sister while they were out shopping.

“We were just goofing around,” Bartholomew said. “It was so embarrassing.”

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After winning his 14th NCAA men’s volleyball championship with a victory over Cal State Northridge on Saturday, Coach Al Scates is looking forward to next season. His team will have 6-foot-4 freshman Stein Metzger replacing All-American Mike Sealy, a graduating senior, at the setter position.

“Stein is a very gifted athlete,” Scates said. “He was the best backup setter we’ve ever had. He didn’t get much playing time but he was setting against our first team all year in practice. And he’ll be ready.”

Metzger said he’s benefited from playing against Sealy and watching him play.

“We’ve had our battles, but I’ve learned so much,” Metzger said. “It’s a lot different though, playing in a match than in practice, and it’ll take an adjustment. I just need the experience and I’ll be ready to go.”

Sophomore middle blocker Kevin Wong thinks Metzger will only add to UCLA’s strengths.

“With Stein, you’re getting another tough jump server,” said Wong, who played with Metzger at Punahou High in Hawaii. “It’s going to be another big blocking, big serving Bruin team.”

Notes

The defending national champion Pepperdine baseball team clinched its eighth West Coast Conference championship in nine years and earned an automatic berth to the NCAA tournament with a three-game sweep of San Diego last weekend. The Waves (38-13, 19-11 in league) are ranked fourth in the country by Collegiate Baseball and have won 24 of 28 games since March 20. Pepperdine plays at Loyola Marymount on Friday at 2:30 p.m. The teams play a doubleheader at noon on Saturday. Senior shortstop Erik Ekdahl has committed only seven errors in 224 total chances.

The No. 25 UCLA (28-19, 13-11 in the Pacific 10 Southern Division) baseball team plays hosts to USC on Friday at 7 p.m. The game will be televised live on Prime Ticket.