Travers takes golf skills to a heightened level

By Eric Nelson

The conclusion of the West Coast Conference Men's Golf Tournament this past weekend saw  Santa Clara capture fifth, marking the end of the team's official season.

But it also brought closure to the career of quite possibly the most decorated Santa Clara University golf player of all time.

Scott Travers is currently training full-time in preparation to go pro at the end of this upcoming summer.

"Junior year was a real special year for me and one I'll always remember," said Travers. "Every tournament I was in contention and I felt like my play was really solid and consistent throughout the entire season."

Although Travers consistently finished in the top ten, sometimes just strokes off the leader, he failed to win a school event his junior season.

"It was tough at times, it's frustrating to finish so close over and over again," said Travers. "In the end though, I just stuck in there, kept my head up and continued to work hard."

All the hard work paid off in the end as Travers captured WCC Player of the Year and headed into the summer with some hardware already on the shelf. And what a summer it turned out to be, as Travers continued on to accomplish a feat that had been achieved by only two other players in the past 99 years.

"I really felt it was a long time coming," said Travers. "I had been playing so well the past year but finishing first had evaded me for too long. I guess it was just my time."

Travers went on to beat out 150 other players that had gone through ten qualifying rounds to win the California State Amateur tournament.

Two weeks later Travers doubled up by winning the Southern California Amateur Tournament and beating Tiger Woods' four round score in the process.

"Everything really came together in those two tournaments. I was in the right zone and I wasn't really thinking about it that much. I was just out there having fun," said Travers.

Travers came into his senior year being touted as one of the top players in the country from a mid-major school.

However, even after two good tournaments in the fall finishing third and fourth respectively, and winning out at the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate Tournament, Travers finished his senior year without accomplishing many of the goals he had initially set.

"Sometimes you get in these little funks, golf's definitely a sport where you have periods where things just aren't working for you but you just have to push through and not give up when the going gets rough," commented Travers.

After a rough second round in the WCC Tournament Travers managed to end the season on a high note, dominating the challenging back nine with seven straight birdies.

"We definitely fell short of our goal as a team, which was to qualify for regionals," said Travers, "but from here on out my eyes are on the next challenge, which is the PGA qualifiers in the fall."

Another notable performance for the year was sophomore Rick Lamb, who captured First Team All WCC honors for the men. Also worth noting was senior Miki Ueoka, who once again finished among the teams' best for the woman's team.

Ueoka capped off an outstanding collegiate career by once again finishing top ten at the WCC championships.

She shot a 73 in the final round and placed fifth. It was the third time in a row that Ueoka had finished in the top ten.

She is expected to receive First Team All WCC honors for the third straight year. Having qualified for the NCAA tournament as an individual her sophomore year and winning three other collegiate events, Ueoka will go down as one of the best golf players ever to don the Santa Clara red. She will be beside Travers.

Contact Eric Nelson at ehnelson@scu.edu or (408) 551-1918.