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April 12, 2008

The West Coast Conference Men's Golf Championship is set to tee off this Monday and Tuesday, April 14-15 at the Chambers Bay Golf Course in University Place, Wash. For Loyola Marymount, they bring a mix of experience and rising stars to the championship in search for their second title in three years at course tabbed to host the world's best. Follow all the action through live scoring on GolfStat.com.

Chambers Bay Golf Course was recently awarded the 2015 U.S. Open Championship and will be the third municipal course to play host to the U.S. Open, following Bethpage Black in New York (2002, 2009) and Torrey Pines in California later this year. Chambers Bay will be the first golf course in the Pacific Northwest to hold the U.S. Open. The link-style design will play over 7,000 yards and is a par-72.

Making the tough course even tougher will be the conditions. Action begins with a practice round on Sunday, April 13 with first round action beginning at 7:30 a.m. on April 14. The final round will be played on Tuesday, April 14. The weather forecast for the tournament is for 50-percent showers on Monday and 30-percent on Tuesday with temperatures in the upper-40s.

Set to take on the course for the Lions, who won the WCC title in 2006 and finished third in 2007, will be the duo of senior Jason D'Amore and junior Brian Locke. Playing in their final WCC Championship together, D'Amore and Locke have been named first-team All-WCC every year at LMU and have led the Lions to their best finishes in school history.

Locke will be going for more history at Chambers Bay. The Los Angeles native is the only player to win back-to-back individual titles and will be looking for his third this week. He enters the tournament with an average of 72.0 and 11 top-20 finishes, matching his season record from a year ago. He had five top-5 finishes as a freshman, seven as a sophomore and two this season for 14 in his career.

As for D'Amore he is having his best season as a Lion in the most storied four-year careers in LMU history. He enters Monday with an average of 72.9, the lowest of his career. He has 28 top-20 finishes in his career, five this season. His career average of 73.1 is the lowest for any four-year golfer in the school's history.

The Mira Costa High School graduate played his first WCC tournament as a freshman in 2005 and despite massive back pain finished 32nd with a 237 and still earned first-team All-WCC thanks to his 73.0 average on the season. He also earned Freshman of the Year honors. In the Lions' championship season he finished fourth with a 219 and then a year ago finished two strokes behind Locke to claim second place with a 217.

While Locke and D'Amore provide a one-two punch in experience, they will be joined by three other teammates making their first trip to the WCCs. Junior transfers Bryan Martin and Greg Moss along with freshman John Lim will make up the rest of the Lions five scoring golfers at this year's championship.

Lim, a freshman from Mira Costa High School in Manhattan Beach, leads the trio with an average of 74.7. He has earned three top-20 finishes in his rookie season, playing in 21 rounds on the year. He has posted a career-low 70 at the Turtle Bay College Invitational on Nov. 5 and a three-round tournament low of 213 at the Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate on Oct. 30.

As for Martin, a transfer from Moorpark College, is right behind Lim with a 74.9 average. He has posted a pair of top-20 finishes, including a top-five finish at th ClubGlove Intercollegiate on Oct. 23. He posted a career-low 69 and a three-round low 219 at the Turtle Bay College Invitational on Nov. 5.

Moss enters the tournament with an average of 75.7, playing in all 30 rounds this season for the Lions. A transfer of the College of the Canyons, Moss also had a low round of 70 and a low three-round 214 at the Turtle Bay Invitational on Nov. 6. He had a top-20 finish at the Anteater Invitational on Feb. 26.

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