California and UCLA have been bearish on spring sports championships this season, and the two Pacific-10 Conference rivals went claw to claw once again in the Division I Men's Golf Championships June 1-4 at the 6,679-yard, par-70 Cascades Golf Course in Hot Springs, Virginia. In the end, through a steady final-round rain, California's Golden Bears outlasted UCLA's Bruins, beating par on a day no other team could.

The team title is California's first in golf, and it gains a measure of revenge for the Women's College World Series crown UCLA's softball team took from the Bears on Memorial Day. UCLA also won the women's golf team title, but California's Sarah Huarte won medalist honors. UCLA added a wo-men's track title June 12 (see story, page 11). The Bruins also did well in tennis this year, reaching the team finals in both the men's and women's championships and winning a women's doubles title. California, meanwhile, placed fourth in the women's rowing championship.

In the men's golf battle, California got an early boost from junior Jeff Hood, who fired a 5-under-par 65 that helped propel the Golden Bears into the lead after the first round. Hood, a second-team all-Pac-10 selection who finished 32nd at the Pac-10 championships and 33rd at the West regional, brought his "A" game to the nationals. Playing in the morning, he birdied holes No. 1, 3, 6 and 13. He posted an eagle on No. 16, hitting his second shot with a five-wood onto the green from 240 yards away and sinking the 40-foot eagle putt.

California golfers combined for a 1-under-par 279 on the day, finishing the first round one stroke ahead of second-place Brigham Young and two strokes ahead of TCU.

The quick start surprised Golden Bears coach Steve Desimone, since his squad had typically been slow out of the gate. "We've been a slow starting team all year. It's been one of those things," he said. "If you look at the regional last week, we had a very poor first round. But the second round, we were 11-under. We were nine shots better than the rest of the field and we rocketed from 21st to sixth. We've had a tendency to really get it going."

That "getting it going" would manifest itself again in the national championship. California maintained its lead through the second day, despite a 9-over round, but then UCLA overtook the Bears in round three.

UCLA's Travis Johnson, who would finish fifth in the individual standings, shot a third-round 68, and senior Roy Moon posted a 65 to propel the Bruins five shots ahead of Kentucky and eight in front of California heading into the final round. Johnson and teammate John Merrick birdied the final two holes to lift the Bruins into the lead, with Johnson providing the highlight. On the final hole, he nearly recorded a hole in one, sticking his tee shot within a couple of feet on the 203-yard par-3 third. He drained the putt for a birdie.

"I heard a roar and we didn't know if it was a hole in one or what," Johnson said in a post-round interview. "But I thought to myself, 'I want to hear that roar.'

"We've been waiting around the past year for this tournament. We've played crummy at times during the season, just waiting for the tournament. It's kind of bad to do that, but it's nice to raise your game for this tournament. It killed us last year to finish third. Now, we're going to try and capitalize on it."

But California thought otherwise.

"Every second, every minute, every hour of every day, we practice for this day," said Desimone, who has guided the Bears for 25 years. "We knew this was a great team heading into the year. And at our first team meeting, I told the guys that before the final round we were going to be in position to win the national championship. To have one round to win the national championship, that's all you can ask for.

"I told the kids (Thursday) that if we played one great round, we'd win the national championship."

The weather conditions made that one great round an elusive goal. But California senior Peter Tomasulo's 67 and a 69 from Hood helped the Bears beat par while UCLA went 13-over and Kentucky 23-over. None of the Bruins or the Wildcats in fact shot under par on the day.

"Cal shot 1-under in that weather and that's just great playing on their part," said UCLA coach O.D. Vincent. "They got under par pretty early in the round and just held there. We made a little bit of a charge, but they answered all those calls. So my hat is off to the Cal Bears and their team and coach. They deserve it."

The Bears ended up six strokes ahead of UCLA. Arizona finished third, followed by Texas and Georgia Tech. Kentucky finished eighth.

In the individual portion of the championships, UNLV's Ryan Moore, a Seattle native who said he was familiar with the final-round conditions, played up to his word, firing a 66 to walk away with medalist honors at 13-under par.

Moore's final-round 66 followed a third-round 64, the best round of the tournament. He entered the final round with a two-stroke advantage over Arizona's Chris Nallen.

Moore's final round included three bogeys, but also seven birdies, including two chip-in birdies, one out of the bunker on No. 4 and one from the rough on the final hole.

"I grew up playing in conditions like this pretty much every day for 18 years," Moore said. "Maybe it bothers some guys, but I don't mind it at all.

"There was a little smile on my face when I woke up and saw the rain."

Moore out-dueled Wake Forest senior Bill Haas, son of PGA golfer Jay Haas, in the final round. Bill, who will turn pro and play in a PGA event in late June, shot a 68 in the final round, but it wasn't enough to catch Moore.

"I've played six rounds with Ryan this week, four rounds and two practice rounds, and it was pretty special," said Haas, who like Moore competed as an individual. "He shot a 66 in the final round. I would have had to shot a 62 just to tie him. So I didn't really have a shot. He beat me. I played my game and he played better."

Arizona's Nallen also finished at 7-under and in a tie for second with Haas, while Pepperdine's Michael Putnam finished in fourth place at 4-under. Oklahoma State's Casey Wittenberg, the low amateur at the Masters, finished in a tie for 24th.

Team results

1. California, 279-289-287-279 -- 1,134; 2. UCLA, 289-283-275-293 -- 1,140; 3. Arizona, 292-281-283-292 -- 1,148; 4. Texas, 288-286-289-286 -- 1,149; 5. Georgia Tech, 289-285-287-290 -- 1,151; 6. (tie) Florida, 285-289-284-294 -- 1,152; and Washington, 289-282-285-296 -- 1,152; 8. Kentucky, 283-286-283-303 -- 1,155; 9. Brigham Young, 280-290-291-295 -- 1,156; 10. Pepperdine, 295-276-289-300 -- 1,160; 11. (tie) Georgia, 285-302-284-290 -- 1,161; and Georgia St., 292-280-297-292 -- 1,161; 13. Oklahoma St., 292-289-289-294 -- 1,164; 14. Texas A&M, 291-292-284-300 -- 1,167; 15. Penn St., 289-291-290-300 -- 1,170.

Eliminated after 54 holes:

16. (tie) Purdue, 292-285-294 -- 871; and Southern California, 284-298-289 -- 871; 18. Clemson, 285-290-297 -- 872; 19. New Mexico, 291-291-294 -- 876; 20. TCU, 281-292-304 -- 877; 21. (tie) Auburn, 283-298-298 -- 879; Arizona St., 292-304-283 -- 879; and Oklahoma, 286-295-298 -- 879; 24. Kent St., 294-288-299 -- 881; 25. Toledo, 294-292-298 -- 884; 26. (tie) Southern Methodist, 297-288-302 -- 887; and Wichita St., 298-304-285 -- 887; 28. Vanderbilt, 294-303-294 -- 891; 29. North Carolina, 294-291-307 -- 892; 30. Rhode Island, 299-311-302 -- 912.

Individual results

1. Ryan Moore, UNLV, 67-70-64-66 -- 267; 2. (tie) Bill Haas, Wake Forest, 70-68-67-68 -- 273; and Chris Nallen, Arizona, 69-67-67-70 -- 273; 4. Michael Putnam, Pepperdine, 74-65-67-70 -- 276; 5. Travis Johnson, UCLA, 69-68-68-72 -- 277; 6. (tie) John Holmes, Kentucky, 71-69-67-72 -- 279; and Mark Leon, Penn St., 69-69-70-71 -- 279; 8. (tie) Jason Hartwick, Texas, 70-68-72-71 -- 281; and Matt Wells, Kentucky, 68-68-68-77 -- 281; 10. (tie) Judd Easterling, Wichita St., 72-74-66-70 -- 282; Jeff Hood, California, 65-71-77-69 -- 282; Shiv Kapur, Purdue, 72-68-70-72 -- 282; Roy Moon, UCLA, 71-74-65-72 -- 282; and Peter Tomasulo, California, 72-73-70-67 -- 282; 15. (tie) Brock Mackenzie, Washington, 71-71-69-72 -- 283; and Matthew Rosenfeld, Texas, 69-71-71-72 -- 283; 17. (tie) Oscar Alvarez, Brigham Young, 70-72-70-72 -- 284; Tyler Leon, Oklahoma St., 70-72-70-72 -- 284; and Nicholas Thompson, Georgia Tech, 70-73-68-73 -- 284; 20. (tie) Jeff Overton, Indiana, 67-72-69-77 -- 285; and Brett Stegmaier, Florida, 71-74-71-69 -- 285; 22. (tie) Ty Harris, Georgia St., 75-69-73-69 -- 286; and Kaspar Jorgensen, Georgia St., 69-70-76-71 -- 286; 24. (tie) Kevin Kisner, Georgia, 66-80-70-71 -- 287; Mark Lamb, Arizona, 72-69-73-73 -- 287; Casey Wittenberg, Oklahoma St., 72-73-73-69 -- 287; and Chan Wongluekiet, Georgia Tech, 70-69-77-71 -- 287; 28. (tie) A.J. Elgert, Kansas St., 68-69-75-76 -- 288; and Alex Prugh, Washington, 71-70-73-74 -- 288.

30. (tie) Todd Miller, Brigham Young, 69-73-74-73 -- 289; Jessie Mudd, Florida, 69-73-74-73 -- 289; and Camilo Villegas, Florida, 72-72-67-78 -- 289; 33. (tie) Erik Olson, Washington, 74-69-72-75 -- 290; J.R. Ruda, California, 71-76-71-72 -- 290; and Michael Wilson, California, 76-74-69-71 -- 290; 36. (tie) Michael Barbosa, Georgia Tech, 73-74-72-72 -- 291; John Merrick, UCLA, 71-76-69-75 -- 291; Brian O'Flaherty, Pepperdine, 73-69-71-78 -- 291; and Stephen Reed, Texas A&M, 73-68-78-72 -- 291; 40. (tie) Jeff Bell, Texas, 75-74-73-70 -- 292; David Denham, Georgia, 76-75-68-73 -- 292; and David Tasker, Texas A&M, 74-76-69-73 -- 292; 43. Zack Robinson, Oklahoma St., 73-73-71-76 -- 293; 44. (tie) Roberto Castro, Georgia Tech, 76-74-70-74 -- 294; Matt Every, Florida, 75-71-72-76 -- 294; Henry Liaw, Arizona, 78-70-72-74 -- 294; Greg Machtaler, Brigham Young, 74-75-75-70 -- 294; Dan Potter, Washington, 73-73-73-75 -- 294; and David Schultz, Texas A&M, 71-74-73-76 -- 294; 50. (tie) Scott Carlyle, California, 71-71-78-75 -- 295; and Chris Kirk, Georgia, 73-76-72-74 -- 295; 52. (tie) Randy Creighton, Pepperdine, 74-72-75-75 -- 296; Jake Ellison, Brigham Young, 70-72-72-82 -- 296; Farren Keenan, Texas, 76-73-74-73 -- 296; and Brendon Todd, Georgia, 73-76-74-73 -- 296; 56. (tie) Steve Conway, UCLA, 78-70-73-76 -- 297; Chris Elliott, Pepperdine, 74-70-76-77 -- 297; Richard Scott, Georgia, 73-75-76-73 -- 297; and James Vargas, Florida, 73-73-75-76 -- 297.

60. (tie) Jonathan Fricke, Georiga St., 73-69-77-79 -- 298; Rusty Kennedy, Texas, 74-77-73-74 -- 298; Andrew Parr, Texas A&M, 73-74-72-79 -- 298; Greg Pieczynski, Penn St., 76-74-73-75 -- 298; and Ben Taylor, Georgia St., 77-72-76-73 -- 298; 65. (tie) Ron Harvey, Jr., Brigham Young, 71-73-76-80 -- 300; Ted Neville, Penn St., 74-75-74-77 -- 300 and Corey Prugh, Washington, 80-72-71-77 -- 300; 68. (tie) Mark Blakefield, Kentucky, 71-72-74-84 -- 301; Nick Juszczak, Arizona, 80-75-71-75 -- 301; Marco Poccia, Penn St., 72-79-73-77 -- 301; and John Poucher, UCLA, 79-71-77-74 -- 301; 72. Jason Pannone, Penn St., 74-73-76-79 -- 302; 73. (tie) Darren Baynes, Georgia St., 75-76-72-80 -- 303; and Brandon Waldrop, Kentucky, 73-77-74-79 -- 303; 75. Rand Arbuckle, Texas A&M, 75-81-70-79 -- 305; 76. Chris Clarke, Oklahoma St., 77-71-81-77 -- 306; 77. Josh Esler, Arizona, 73-81-76-77 -- 307; 78. Kevin Larsen, Georgia Tech, 82-69-78-79 -- 308; 79. Tyler Wilson, Kentucky, 82-79-77-75 -- 313; 80. Alex Coe, Pepperdine, 78-82-76-78 -- 314; 81. Alex Noren, Oklahoma St., 82-82-75-79 -- 318.

Eliminated after 54 holes:

Ben Hayes, Southern California, 69-71-73 -- 213; Matt Hendrix, Clemson, 71-68-76 -- 215; Spencer Levin, New Mexico, 72-70-73 -- 215; Jack Ferguson, Clemson, 69-73-74 -- 216; Adam Meyer, TCU, 66-76-74 -- 216; Jonathan Dismuke, Aburn, 68-74-75 -- 217; Peter Laws, Kent St., 73-71-73 -- 217; Aron Price, Ga. Southern, 72-71-74 -- 217; Chez Reavie, Arizona St., 75-76-66 -- 217; Ryan Yip, Kent St., 71-70-76 -- 217; Pariya Junhasavasdikul, Purdue, 72-70-76 -- 218; Dan Kleckner, Southern Methodist, 74-71-73 -- 218; Joshua Wooding, Southern California, 69-77-72 -- 218; Brad Heaven, Toldeo, 71-74-74 -- 219; Richard Kilpatrick, Toledo, 74-70-75 -- 219; Anthony Kim, Oklahoma, 73-71-75 -- 219; Andrew Medley, Aburn, 71-75-73 -- 219; David Schultz, TCU, 74-71-74 -- 219; Martin Ureta, North Carolina, 73-70-76 -- 219; Alejandro Canizares, Arizona St., 70-78-72 -- 220; Carlos Del Moral, Oklahoma, 71-75-74 -- 220; Lance Goodson, Vanderbilt, 72-75-73 -- 220; Gregg Jones, Clemson, 71-76-73 -- 220; Jesse Mueller, Arizona St., 71-75-74 -- 220; Jay Reynolds, New Mexico, 73-75-72 -- 220; Peter Richardson, Purdue, 74-73-73 -- 220; Charlie Beljan, New Mexico, 76-70-75 -- 221; Ty Cline, Wichita St., 73-78-70 -- 221; Doug Batty, Toldeo, 73-74-75 -- 222; Marc Bourgeois, Kent St., 75-72-75 -- 222; Will Claxton, Auburn, 74-72-76 -- 222; Will Dodson, Southern Methodist, 75-73-74 -- 222; Luke List, Vanderbilt, 73-74-75 -- 222; Madalitso Muthiya, New Mexico, 70-76-76 -- 222; Taylor Wood, Southern California, 71-78-73 -- 222; Colby Beckstrom, TCU, 72-73-78 -- 223; Brent Delahoussaye, Clemson, 74-75-74 -- 223; Stuart Moore, Auburn, 71-77-75 -- 223; Dustin Cone, Purdue, 74-74-76 -- 224; Niklas Lemke, Arizona St., 76-76-72 -- 224; Kevin Silva, North Carolina, 71-72-81 -- 224; David Spitz, Rhode Island, 73-75-76 -- 224; Scott Abbott, Southern Methodist, 75-74-76 -- 225; Justin Bertsch, Toldeo, 76-75-74 -- 225; Mark Donnell, Vanderbilt, 74-77-74 -- 225; Kenneth Fahey, Rhode Island, 74-80-71 -- 225; Jerad Harklau, Southern Methodist, 73-73-79 -- 225; J.J. Killeen, TCU, 75-72-78 -- 225; Scott Oxandaboure, Southern California, 75-74-76 -- 225; Stephen Polanski, TCU, 69-78-78 -- 225; Chris Baryla, UTEP, 74-74-78 -- 226; Ben McClung, Vanderbilt, 77-77-72 -- 226; Matthew Myers, Auburn, 73-78-75 -- 226; Tyler Riley, Toldeo, 77-74-75 -- 226; Ted Smith, North Carolina, 76-74-76 -- 226; Nico Bollini, Southern California, 80-76-71 -- 227; Dustin Bray, North Carolina, 76-75-76 -- 227; Doug Manor, Oklahoma, 81-73-73 -- 227; Blake Martin, Oklahoma, 70-76-81 -- 227; Chris Miller, Kent St., 77-75-75 -- 227; Cameron Bishop, Wichita St., 76-76-76 -- 228; Jay Choi, New Mexico, 77-77-74 -- 228; Mike Derminio, Arizona St., 78-77-73 -- 228; Colt Knost, Southern Methodist, 77-71-80 -- 228; Stephen Poole, Clemson, 75-74-79 -- 228; Martin Flores, Oklahoma, 72-81-76 -- 229; Matt Crenshaw, North Carolina, 74-77-79 -- 230; Steve Lohmeyer, Kent St., 75-75-80 -- 230; James Clarke, Rhode Island, 78-77-76 -- 231; Jesse Schulte, Wichita St., 77-76-78 -- 231; Luke Epp, Purdue, 79-78-75 -- 232; John May, Wichita St., 78-81-73 -- 232; Will Armstrong, Vanderbilt, 75-83-77 -- 235; Ben Tuthill, Rhode Island, 74-81-80 -- 235; Ben Spitz, Rhode Island, 78-79-79-236.