UCLA CAPTURES U.S. COLLEGIATE CHAMPIONSHIP;
BOZZELLI, VEERMAN SHARE INDIVIDUAL TITLE

ALPHARETTA, Ga. – The third-ranked UCLA Bruins came to The United States Collegiate Championship this year with the world's No. 1-ranked player, a ton of tradition and two runner-up finishes in the tournament they love so much. Now they're leaving with the USCC Trophy. The smile probably will not leave Coach Derek Freeman's face until he is somewhere over the Grand Canyon on the flight home to Los Angeles.

“This is a PGA Tour type event,” he said. “It's one of our favorite tournaments of the year. It's run unbelievably well, with every detail done first class. It really gives these guys a taste of what the next level is going to be like. To finally pull out a win in this tournament after finishing second twice, it is very special. . . We can't wait to come back next year.”

Behind their young star, sophomore Patrick Cantlay, UCLA secured the 2011 USCC team title Tuesday at The Golf of Georgia. The victory, which was not confirmed until the fading light on this splendid fall day, capped three days of solid play and sensational weather on the Lakeside Course, with a 54-hole score of 12-under 852 – three shots better than No.1-ranked Auburn and No. 13 Washington.

The Individual Championship was shared by Auburn's Dominic Bozzelli and Johannes Veerman of Texas A&M, who shot 54-hole scores of 6-under 210 on the 7,017-yard Lakeside Course. Cantlay, Auburn's Blayne Barber and Michael Johnson, Washington's Cheng-Tsung Pan and Julian Suri of Duke tied for third at 4-under 212.

Defending champion and host team Georgia Tech, which led at the 36-hole mark by three shots, suffered a disastrous back nine Tuesday after at one stage reaching 17-under par with a comfortable lead, and finished fourth at even-par 864, 12 shots behind the winners. That also was 28 shots higher than last year, when the Yellow Jackets cruised to a 27-shot victory. Two-time champion Clemson tied for 5th at 4-over 868, along with Iowa, which made its first USCC appearance.

Georgia Tech Coach Bruce Heppler was well aware of his team's inexperience, with four starters who weren't on the 2010 team, and looked to Tuesday's developments as a key part of the learning curve. Yet that didn't make it any easier to swallow. “There are a lot of positive things we can take away from this fall,” said Heppler. “But this is the third time that the whole group has caved in. You can't do that. When you have a lead like we had, all you need is a couple of them to step up and play the back nine well. It's disappointing because it's a place they know well.”

Bo Andrews was the top finisher for Tech, tying for eighth, with a 73 that put him at 3-under, foiled by double-bogeys at 12 and 17. Seth Reeves, tied for third when the final day began, slipped to a 79 and tied for 26th . Defending champion James White of Georgia Tech, who double-bogeyed both par 3's on the back nine, 13 and 17, tied for 19 th on a closing 76. “It's a good test, but in your own back yard, it's extremely disappointing to finish that poorly,” he said. “These are really good teams. What this tournament has done is identify winners. There's no faking it. UCLA has got a good team, and they played well.”

The Bruins had three other players in the top 20 – Pontus Widegren, who tied for 17th at even-par 216, and Mario Clemens and Pedro Figueiredo, who tied for 19th.

“This golf course is very challenging,” Freeman said. “You have to be very precise where you put your golf ball. I don't think it's that we played that much better than everybody else. We might have just made a few more putts. But all five of our guys birdied the 18 th hole today, and that's great to see because we've had trouble finishing tournaments this year. It's nice to finally see a reward from all of our hard work.”
Complete final results can be found on www.golfstat.com or www.TheUSCC.org.