Starting in the Rough : College golf: Former Arizona standout Gore finds his game isn’t up to par in his return to NCAA competition with Pepperdine.

When Jason Gore steps on a golf course, his reputation follows.

“All the other college players know and respect this guy,” Pepperdine Coach Cody Barden said. “And quite honestly, a lot of them are scared of this guy because they know how good he is.”

Gore, a Pepperdine junior from Valencia, earned his reputation by winning the Pacific 10 Conference individual championship as a freshman and sophomore playing for Arizona in 1993 and ’94.

But if opponents were once intimidated by the 6-foot-2, 220-pound Gore, they might not be after the Waves’ season-opening tournament last weekend.

Returning to college golf after a year off, Gore tied for 81st in the 20-team Fresno State tournament. He ranked the lowest among Pepperdine’s five players with a 54-hole score of 228--12 over par and 27 strokes behind medalist Arron Oberholser of San Jose State.

Gore’s reaction?

“Shock,” he said.

As disappointing as his performance was, Gore, his coach and his teammates feel it is only a matter of time before he regains form. After all, this is only October. Pepperdine has its sights set on May and college golf’s big events--the NCAA regional and championship tournaments.

“It’s just a matter of days and weeks before he is comfortable again with the college scene,” Barden said of Gore. “He simply needs to learn from this experience and focus on parts of his game that aren’t as strong as they need to be.”

Following through on Barden’s advice, Gore, 21, was practicing his short game Tuesday at the North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village, chipping balls onto the practice green.

He’s hoping for a better result when Pepperdine, ranked 14th nationally in a preseason poll, competes in the Oregon State tournament Monday and Tuesday. After last weekend, he dropped a spot in the Waves’ lineup to No. 5 on a team that returned its top eight players.

“My game is nothing compared to where it was [at Arizona],” Gore acknowledged. “Then again, it’s nothing compared to what it will be. I’ve got a lot to work on but I still think the base is somewhat there. Cody is helping me refine things and hopefully I’ll be a better golfer when I leave here.”

Gore’s golf game soared at Arizona. But emotionally and mentally he was at a low point in his life. He stuck it out in Tucson for two years, even though he knew the school wasn’t right for him “from the day I got there.”

“There were a lot of times when I wanted to get out and I kept saying, ‘One more semester and it will get better,’ ” he said. “After two years, it just never got better so I thought it was time for a change.”

Looking back, Gore blames himself for many of his problems at Arizona. He accepted a scholarship early in his senior year at Hart High, where he was Foothill League champion in 1992 after three runner-up finishes.

“I think I was just a young, immature kid who didn’t know how to handle hard times,” he said. “I was homesick. . . . I was too high-strung. I took everything really personally, and I had some roommate problems. I was just kind of a pain in the butt to live with. I think I’ve changed that. I hope I have.”

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Gore decided not to return to Arizona a month before his junior year. He enrolled at College of the Canyons and made plans to resume his golf career this fall at Pepperdine. He feels at home on the Malibu campus.

Leaving Arizona was “a hard thing to do,” Gore said. “But I think it’s one of the better things I ever did. It’s 200% different here and 400% better. It’s just a better place for me.

“The school is small and the guys on the team are great and everybody gets along. Everybody is out to help everybody. I’ve been here for two months now and I think I’ve learned more about myself and my golf game in two months than I have in the eight years I’ve been playing.”

Junior Michael Walton, Pepperdine’s No. 1 player and a second-team preseason All-American, says Gore was a welcome addition despite the rigorous competition for playing slots on the 12-player squad.

“It’s great to have Jason on the team,” said Walton, who finished in a three-way tie for second at the Fresno State tournament, helping Pepperdine place third. “I’ve known him for a long time through junior golf. Everyone knows he’s a great player. Just having his presence on our team is a big step for us, because everyone knew we had good players last year. . . . Plus, he’s a great guy.”

Barden seconded that opinion: “Jason is a pleasure. . . . Everyone likes to be around him.”

Gore earned a reputation for congeniality early in his career. In 1991, he was selected the American Junior Golf Assn. sportsman of the year. The player of the year was Tiger Woods, now at Stanford, with whom Gore had some close battles on the junior circuit.

Gore competed in several amateur events this summer, finishing second at the Long Beach Match Play Championship and fourth at the Southern California Amateur.

He recently shared medalist honors with Chris Riley of Nevada Las Vegas, a Walker Cup team member, at a U.S. Amateur Championship qualifying event.

A year away from college golf allowed Gore time to work on his game and ponder his career.

“It was a long winter, but I practiced a lot and worked out some kinks in my golf swing,” he said.

“It was well-needed. It got to the point when I left Arizona that I hated golf. I knew I wouldn’t hate golf forever, but it got to the point where I was just pushed to the limit.

“I think [the time off] has made me a better person. I’ve matured a little bit. I feel more easygoing. I’m much happier.”

As a youngster, few things made Gore happier than following his father, Shelly, around the golf course. Dad didn’t stick with the sport but Gore was bitten by the golf bug.

From those humble beginnings, Gore developed into a championship golfer who briefly lost his love for the game but has regained it at Pepperdine.

“This team is the most-important thing in my life right now,” he said.

Barden believes Gore is destined to reach the next level of golf.

“I know it’s just a short time before he’s out there on the PGA tour,” Barden said.

Gore smiles at the suggestion. Playing on the pro tour is everyone’s dream, he says. For now, though, he’d just like to help Pepperdine accomplish a few goals.

Dejected after his poor performance in Fresno, Gore would like to show his teammates last weekend was an aberration.

“I took it kind of hard,” he said. “I know I probably shouldn’t have, but inside I felt I had something to prove. I came on this team and they let me [compete] without ever playing a round for them.

“I didn’t have to qualify, which was weird because I thought I would. To come out and shoot 228 in my first tournament, I kind of felt like I almost lost it for the team.”

In college tournaments, the top four players’ scores count toward a team’s total in each round. The fifth score is dropped.

In three rounds at Belmont Country Club in Fresno, Gore’s scores counted only once--a 75 on the last day.

“He can do better,” Barden said. “What’s exciting for me is to see [his game] at its worst, 288 for three rounds. That’s OK, because we can get it a lot better from there.”

Barden has four players who have been medalists at college tournaments--Gore, Walton and seniors Kevin Marsh and Carson Mooney.

And junior Mark Madson will be tough to unseat if he continues the way he did in Fresno, finishing in a tie for eighth, second-best for Pepperdine behind Walton.

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That kind of balance gets the 26-year-old coach excited about the Waves’ chances of challenging for a national title.

“That’s the presentation we want to have, that we have five guys who can win a tournament as individuals and collectively as a team,” Barden said.

It also doesn’t hurt, intimidation-wise, to have a two-time Pacific 10 champion playing in the No. 5 spot.

“That’s going to spook some people,” Barden said.