GOLF:

They didn’t need to travel half-way around the world to prove they were close as a team, but the recent tournament in Asia gave the men’s golf team at UC Irvine further proof.

Five members of the team traveled with Coach Paul Smolinski to play in the 26th annual Topy Cup, a collegiate tournament held at Tanagura Country Club in Tanagura, Japan, the second week of September.

It is hosted by Topy Industries, which manufactures steel and aluminum wheels and is run by one of the country’s largest newspapers.

The event is by invitation, which features four American schools and six Japanese universities. The other U.S. men’s teams were University of Charlotte, Lamar and New Mexico. Two women’s teams, UCLA and Tulsa were also invited.

Smolinski got the invitation from Fresno State Coach Mike Watney in May after regional play and gladly accepted. Watney has been on the committee to recruit American university golf teams to play in the event.

The members of the Anteater team that went were seniors Sean Shahi and Cean Hayashi Geronimo, junior John Chin, sophomore Bryan Harris and freshman Michael Im.

“We were treated like rock stars,” Shahi said. “On and off the golf course, people were very friendly and wanted our autographs. It happened like 30 or 40 times a day.”

Playing with their Japanese contemporaries was also an eye-opening experience for the team.

“They are crazy for the U.S.” Shahi said. “They all want to know about here. One guy I played with spoke almost fluent English and was telling me he has been to San Diego and Los Angeles.”

It helped that Geronimo spoke Japanese and could translate for the other players. During the competition the team stayed in a hotel that had five beds.

“It was a standard hotel room, but with five beds in it,” Shahi said. “It was like being one big family.”

Which is what the team is becoming more like every day. There are two freshman on this team, Im and Roberto Francioni and with the new additions are learning to jell.

That was certainly aided by the dorm style room.

“We are usually hanging out in one room anyway,” Shahi said. “It wasn’t that big of a deal.”

The team opened the first round event tied for fifth out of 10 teams and Im tied for 11th individually with an even-par 72.

In the second round, the Anteaters shot 297 for a 36-hole total of 593 and slipped to eighth place. Chin got to ninth place after a second round two-under 70 and two-day total of one-under 143.

In the final round the team moved up to seventh after a four-under total of 284. They finished with a 54-hole total of 877. Chin and Shahi each shot two-under rounds of 70 and Chin finished ninth.

The team was treated to more hospitality by their hosts at an awards banquet and Chin got a surprise. He made a hole-in-one and was given a trophy by the Japanese Golf Assn. The Japanese seemed more impressed with not the ace, but the fact Chin made it with an 8-iron from 200 yards away.

With the tournament over, the guys had the chance to do a little sightseeing.

They took a 90-minute bullet train ride from the tournament site to Tokyo and there they visited a fish market, shrines, shopping districts and nightlife.

“It reminded me a lot of New York City,” Shahi said. “It was so fast paced. But it was a lot cleaner. There wasn’t any trash anywhere.”

Now the team is back and ready to start its season in the United States, but any success the team has this year, the trip to Japan could be a big part of it.

JOHN REGER’S golf column appears Thursdays.