Conference preview: Pac-10: Campus Insider: Golf Digest

Conference preview: Pac-10

Monday, September 8, 2008 Comments

MEN
2008-09 outlook
Predicted champion: Stanford
Predicted player of the year: Sihwan Kim, Stanford
Predicted freshman of the year: Bjorn Akesson, Arizona State
NCAA Regional bound: Stanford, UCLA, USC, Arizona State, Washington, Oregon, Arizona, California
Team on the rise: Stanford ... a healthy Joseph Bramlett makes strong team even stronger
Biggest question mark: Arizona ... have talent, but do they have a legit No. 1 player?
Wouldn't surprise me to see: Five golfers from the conference—Stanford's Kim, USC's Jamie Lovemark, UCLA's Erik Flores, Washington's Nick Taylor and Arizona State's Jesper Kennegard—play well enough to earn first-team All-American honors.
Would shock me to see: Arizona, the most high profile victim of the ".500 rule" a year ago, fail to have a winning record and advance to NCAA Regionals

2007-08 Accolades
Team champion: Arizona State
Player of the year: Kevin Chappell, UCLA
Freshman of the year: Sihwan Kim, Stanford
Coach of the year: Chris Zambri, USC
Pac-10 medalist: Creighton Honeck, Arizona
All-Pac-10 First team:
James Allenby, Oregon State
Kevin Chappell, UCLA
Erik Flores, UCLA*
Rob Grube, Stanford
Rory Hie, USC
Creighton Honeck, Arizona
Jesper Kennegard, Arizona State*
Sihwan Kim, Stanford
Jamie Lovemark, USC*
* returns in 2008-09

2008-09 predicted finish:
1. Stanford
2. UCLA
3. USC
4. Arizona State
5. Washington
6. Oregon
7. Arizona
8. California
9. Oregon State
10. Washington State

WOMEN
2008-09 outlook
Predicted champion: Arizona State
Predicted player of the year: Tiffany Joh, UCLA
Predicted freshman of the year: Carlota Ciganda, Arizona State
NCAA Regional bound: Arizona State, UCLA, USC, Arizona, Stanford, California, Washington, Oregon
Team on the rise: Arizona State ... no question about having a solid No. 5 player anymore.
Biggest question mark: USC ... how will national champs handle loss of two first-team All-Americans?
Wouldn't surprise me to see: Three different teams—ASU, UCLA and USC—be ranked No. 1 in the Golf World/NGCA coaches' poll at some point during the 2008-09 season.
Would shock me to see: The conference get fewer than eight bids to NCAA regionals.

2007-08 Accolades
Team champion: USC
Player of the year: Tiffany Joh, UCLA
Freshman of the year: Lizette Salas, USC
Coach of the year: Andrea Gaston, USC
Pac-10 medalist: Paola Moreno, USC
All-Pac-10 First team:
Tiffany Joh, UCLA*
Paola Moreno, USC
Belen Mozo, USC*
Azahara Munoz, Arizona State*
Anna Nordqvist, Arizona State*
Dewi Claire Schreefel, USC
Alison Walshe, Arizona
Glory Yang, UCLA*
* returns in 2008-09