49ers Kick Off Season
Beach To Compete At Saint Mary's Invitational
September 8, 2007
PDF Version of this Release FIRST TEE: The Long Beach State Men's Golf team opens the 2007-08 campaign at the Saint Mary's Invitational in Pebble Beach, CA ... Play begins on Monday, Sept. 10 at the Poppy Hills Golf Course and continues on Tuesday, Sept. 11 ... teams will play 36 holes on Monday which is slated to begin at 8:00 am and the final 18 holes being played on Tuesday ... there will be a total of 18 teams competing at the tournament which includes hosts Saint Mary's, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Loyola Marymount, Baylor, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Wisconsin, Nevada, San Jose State, Houston, Memphis, Alabama-Birmingham, Eastern Michigan, Miami (OH) and Texas-Arlington.
LIVINGSTONE ON FIRST TOURNAMENT: "Leaving for our first trip after only four days in school means we haven't had much time together, so the new guys are going to be thrown right into the fire," said Head Coach Bob Livingstone. "The good news is that so far this group of players really seems to like each other and gets along real well, so I think that will help with any nerves. This is a big and very good field, with teams from all over the country. Everyone is just back to school, so I don't know if any of us really knows what to expect."
THE COACH: Bob Livingstone, a 1988 graduate of Long Beach State with a Bachelors Degree in Finance, is entering his 12th year as the Head Coach of the 49er men's golf program. After graduating, Livingstone was hired as the Executive Director of the Southern California PGA's Junior Golf Association. He served in that capacity for six years and upon his departure for Long Beach State his commitment and service were recognized when he received the Bill Bryant Award for "Outstanding and Distinguished Service to Junior Golf". In 2000, he was named Big West Coach of the Year after his team qualified for the NCAA playoffs for the first time in 18 years, and the 2004 team won its first Big West Conference Championship in over 30 years.
BEACH WELCOMES FIVE NEWCOMERS: This year's team will see five new additions to the squad, two of them, senior Jeremy Keller (Las Vegas, NV) and Sophomore Aaron Slonim (Las Vegas, NV) redshirted last year for the 49ers ... Ricky Montanez (Helendale, CA), Eric Pitcaithley (Pleasanton, CA) and Issei Suenaga (Trabuco Canyon, CA) are true newcomers to The Beach.
RETURNING PLAYERS
Michael Drake (Sophomore - Riverside, CA): Summer 2007 - Won the 82nd Annual Long Beach Match Play Championship... defeated former teammate Ryan Wood in the championship, 7-and-6... birdied the sixth hole to go one up and then won five of the next seven holes... victory earned him an exemption into July's Long Beach Open... qualified for the U.S. Amateur at The Olympic Club in San Francisco after shooting a three-under 139 (71-68) at the Amateur Qualifying event at Yorba Linda Country Club.
Karl Katnik (Sophomore - North Tustin, CA): Competed in 10 tournaments on the year with a stroke average of 75.87... best finish was a tie for 29th place at the Big West Championships with a 227 (79-74-74). |
