Long Beach State University Athletics
LBSU opens spring season in Arizona
1/30/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Jan. 30, 2009
Complete Release in PDF Format 
FIRST TEE: Long Beach State opens the spring season as they travel down to Tucson, Ariz., for the Arizona Invitational hosted by the University of Arizona. The two-day tournament begins Monday, Feb. 2, at the Arizona National Golf Club (par-71, 6,900 yards) with 36 holes scheduled and the final 18 concluding on Wednesday, Feb. 3. Michael Drake, Steve Gibson, Austin Love, Ricky Montanez and Kevin Roy will be competing with 16 other teams (Arizona (two teams), Pepperdine, Tulsa, East Tennessee State, Middle Tennessee State, Nevada, Tennessee, California, UC Irvine, Rice, New Mexico, Brigham Young, San Diego State, UNLV and Coastal Carolina). Both days will begin at 7 a.m. PST with a shot-gun start. Live scoring will be available on the internet at www.golfstat.com.
LAST YEAR IN ARIZONA: LBSU finished in last place among 16 teams participating in last year's tournament in Tucson. The 49ers shot a three-round total of 926 (302-320-304) . Junior Michael Drake was the top individual for The Beach as he tied for 64th with a 226 (71-80-75). Tennessee came away with the team title as the Volunteers scored a 832 (272-277-283). Kevin Chappell of UCLA won the individual medalist with a 198 (67-67-64)
LBSU WRAPS UP FALL SEASON: The 49ers concluded the 2008 fall campaign by playing in six tournaments, with two of them with a top-five finish. LBSU finished in third place at the Del Walker Intercollegiate Golf Classic in Long Beach and also finished in third at the Bill Cullum Invitational. The Beach also had two top 10 finishes in the fall as they tied for ninth at the Saint Mary's Invitational and finished in eighth at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate.
FIELD SET FOR 2009 DEL WALKER INTERCOLLEGIATE: The dates and field for the 2009 Del Walker Intercollegiate Tournament has been set as the 54-hole tournament will be held on October 22-23 at Virginia Country Club. The field will feature a much-improved Long Beach State team joined by defending Del Walker champions Colorado State, reigning Big West Champions UC Irvine and Oregon from the Pac-10. Four additional Big West teams will compete as UC Santa Barbara, Cal State Northridge, Pacific and Cal Poly will all make the trip to The Beach. San Francisco, Loyola Marymount, Santa Clara, St. Mary's, Wyoming and Weber State round out the field.
BACK 9 PARTNERS WITH 49ERS: Back 9 USA and Long Beach State have partnered together that designates Back 9 USA as the official performance apparel and headwear provider for the 49ers men's golf team, coaches, and staff. In addition to outfitting the team, Back 9 USA has also signed on as the Presenting Sponsor of the Del Walker Intercollegiate that was held October 15-17 at Virginia Country Club in Long Beach. "The opportunity to partner with Back 9 USA really gives us the best of both worlds - quality and performance along with a greater selection and input into what products we get to choose from." said 49er Head Coach Bill Poutre.
NEW COACH, NEW TEAM, NEW ATTITUDE: The 2008-09 season will have an entire different look for the 49ers as Bill Poutre was introduced as the 49ers' new head coach over the summer. Not only will The Beach have a new coach, but will also welcome five newcomers to the team. Bobby Barajas (Santa Maria), Steve Gibson (Orange), Kevin Lim (Seoul, Korea), Austin Love (Redding) and Kevin Roy (Syracuse, N.Y.) all look to contribute to the team for this season. As Orange County Player of the Year, Lim, closed out his high school career at the CIF State Championship at Santa Maria Country Club with a team championship and a 17th place individual finish. Roy, considered one of the best amateur golfers in the northeast, was named the Syracuse District Junior Player of the Year in 2007 and is currently the second ranked amateur in the Syracuse District. He finished third in the 2007 New York State Junior Amateur and has won four times during the 2007 summer junior golf season.
POUTRE TAKES OVER 49ER HELM: Bill Poutre was named the eighth head men's golf coach at Long Beach State as he replaced Bob Livingstone as he retired after 14 years at The Beach. Poutre spent the past four years as the head coach at the University of Hartford, where he turned the Hawks into one of the strongest programs on the east coast. During his four year reign at Hartford, the team's national ranking improved by nearly 120 spots. The Hawks won three regular season tournaments, two conference championships and advanced to the 2007 NCAA Division-I East Regionals. The team's stroke average improved by 16-shots over the period, setting a school record in his final season. Poutre's teams also excelled in the classroom earning a 3.30 cumulative grade point average over the four year period.
VINAL JOINS THE BEACH AS 49ERS' ASSISTANT COACH: Zack Vinal joins The Beach as an assistant coach for both the men's and women's golf teams for the 2008-09 season. Vinal enjoyed a four-year career at Binghamton University (Vestal, N.Y.), where he was a two-time Division-I PING All-Region selection and was selected as a Cleveland Golf All-American Scholar for his accomplishments during his senior year. He holds the career scoring average in the schools Division-I era as well as the single season scoring record at Binghamton University. In addition, he had 22 top-10 tournament finishes during his career. Zack was recognized by the state of New York as the 2008 SUNY Chancellor's Award. The annual award is given to one athlete from the entire New York state university system for outstanding performance in sport and academics.
NEXT UP FOR THE BEACH: The 49ers are back in action as they travel to Beaumont, Calif. for the Braveheart Classic hosted by fellow Big West Conference member UC Riverside. The two-day tournament begins on Monday, Mar. 2.
Players Mentioned
