Golfers Travel to Purdue Boilermaker Invitational This Weekend

LOS ANGELES -- The 14th-ranked UCLA men’s golf team travels to the Purdue Boilermaker Invitational this weekend looking to continue the momentum of its first tournament victory.

UCLA won its first tournament of the 2013-14 season on Apr. 7, capturing the title at the Redhawk Invitational at Chambers Bay. The Bruins won by three shots with a nine-under par score of 835 as junior Preston Valder finished third and sophomore Jake Knapp placed fourth.

The victory enabled Coach Derek Freeman to settle on his lineup, which this week will feature senior Anton Arboleda, Valder, and sophomores Lorens Chan, Jonathan Garrick and Knapp. Junior Matt Pinizzotto will compete as an individual.

UCLA is the only West Coast school competing in the Boilermaker Invitational, which features 15 teams, nine of which are ranked in GolfStat’s Top 100 this week. Ninth-ranked Illinois is the top-ranked team in the field.

The tournament will be played at Purdue’s Kampen Course, generally considered one of the toughest campus venues in the nation. In 2008, UCLA won its last NCAA team championship at the Kampen Course with a 72-hole total of 1,194 (+42). This weekend the course will play to a par of 72 over 7,259 yards.