Golf:

Going to the NCAA regionals is almost becoming an expected annual trip for the UC Irvine men’s golf team, but they are certainly not taking the event for granted.

This will be the eighth trip to the regionals in the past nine years for the team and its head coach, Paul Smolinski.

The team begins regional play today after receiving an at-large berth for one of the six regionals being held across the country.

The Anteaters are at Lake Merced Golf Club in Daly City and will be joined by USC, Texas A&M;, San Diego State, UC Davis, Oregon, New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas State, Oregon State, San Diego and San Francisco State.

The low five teams will advance to the NCAA finals. UCI is trying to reach the finals for the second consecutive year and fourth time in the program’s history.

Last year, the team finished third in the regional to move on to the NCAA finals where they failed to make the cut.

In 2008, UCI won the Big West Conference and got an automatic bid. This year, that honor went to UC Davis, but the Anteaters finished second, tied with Pacific, but managed to get the at-large berth.

Junior John Chin and senior Sean Shahi are the top two players on the team and if they are going to the finals, it is those two that will have to perform well.

“I feel confident we can get to go to the finals,” Chin said. “This is a good team. I think we will advance.”

Chin leads the team with a 71.43 stroke average and six top-10 finishes this season. He was named Big West Conference Player of the Year for the second straight season.

“I was shocked,” Chin said. “I didn’t expect it. I thought I only had an OK year by my standards.”

It would be hard to repeat Chin’s year in 2008. He led his team to the finals and then qualified for the U.S. Amateur Public Links Championship. He reached the finals before losing to Jack Newman of Des Moines, Iowa. Chin also qualified for the U.S. Amateur, but did not advance to match play.

What the summer did was give Chin a belief in himself as he entered the 2009 season.

“It was a confidence I had,” Chin said. “It gave me a belief that I can play with whoever.”

In his last year, Shahi has averaged 72.26 and had six top-10 showings in tournaments. He was named the conference’s player of the month in April and also was named to the conference’s second team.

If the team is going to advance they are going to need the other three teammates to do well and it appears they are all peaking at the right time.

Sophomore Bryan Harris had a 73.71 average and finished second at the St. Mary’s Invitational. Freshman Roberto Francioni averaged 73.86 and was named co-Freshman of the Year in the Big West Conference.

Michael Im had a 73.96 average and led the team at the conference championships, finished third.

Though the team is seeded ninth they definitely have a chance to grab one of the five spots and advance to the NCAA Finals, but will need to have a better showing than they did at the conference finals.

JOHN REGER’S golf column appears Thursdays. He may be reached by e-mail at [email protected] or by regular mail at P.O. Box 2984, Seal Beach, CA 907040.