Sept. 13, 2002

Los Angeles, CA (Sept. 13, 2002) - Loyola Marymount University men's golf Head Coach Alex Galvan will start his first season at the helm of the program at the McDonald Cup/Yale Invitational Sept. 14-15, 2002 in New Haven, Conn.

The Lions, who participate annually in the Yale Invitational but did not make the trip last year due to the events of Sept. 11, will combine the experience of juniors Mike Farrell, Joe Legacy and Gavin Witzer with a talented group of underclassman. Galvan, in his first season as a head coach, hopes that his co-captains, Legacy and Farrell, will lead the group in 2002.

Both Farrell and Legacy played in the most tournaments for the Lions last season and were virtually even in their scores. Farrell, who had the best finish for the Lions in the West Coast Conference Championship at a tie for seventh, had an average round of 75.76, while Legacy finish the season with an average of 75.79. Witzer, who played in eight tournaments a year ago, finished the season with a 77.48 average, claiming his best finish of 12th out of 75 golfers at the Family Motors Invitational.

Elliot Neumayer, the only senior and three-year letterwinner on the squad, played in just one event last season and will bring valuable Division-I experience to the three underclassman on the Lions' roster.

Chris Hudson, the only sophomore on the roster, played in two tournaments in his freshman season, finishing 31st out of 63 golfers at the Santa Clara Invitational with a score of 230 and 13th out of 45 golfers at the Southern Cal Invitational with a score of 153 (two rounds). He finished the season with a 76.6 average.

Joining the squad for their first year of collegiate golf will be junior William Luciano from Hunnington Beach, Calif., and freshmen Chaz Inouye from Wailuku, Hawaii, and Dean Delaye from Seattle, Wash.

Traveling to Yale and playing the old course will be a challenging start to the 2002 season for the Lions. The 18-team field will play 27 holes on Saturday and then 18 holes on Sunday at one of collegiate golf's toughest golf courses, the Yale Golf Course. In 1924, Mrs. Ray Tompkins gave a 700-acre tract of swamp and woodland to Yale in memory of her husband. Under the supervision of Charles Blair Macdonald, the renowned golf course architect, champion golfer, and co-founder of the USGA, plans were made for an 18-hole golf course. With a budget of $400,000, Macdonald, in collaboration with Seth Raynor and Charles Banks, designed a masterpiece.

Today, the Yale Golf Course is recognized as one of the finest examples of early American golf course design. Large deeply bunkered greens and narrow rolling fairways are the core of Yale's penalizing character.

In 1988, Golf Magazine ranked Yale as 71st among the 100 most difficult courses in the world. Many recognize the layout as the best collegiate course in the nation. Two of the holes- the 432-yard par-4 fourth and the 238-yard par-3 ninth - have been ranked among the 100 most difficult holes.

The Yale course has been the site of every significant state championship, two USGA Junior National events, the 1991 NCAA Eastern Regional championships, the 1991 ECAC Men's Championship, and the 1992 ECAC Women's Championship. During the NCAA tourney, only 21 sub par rounds were recorded of the 360 played during the three days. The course has also been the home of the Nike Connecticut Open.