Published 2003-08-27T00:00:00Z”/>
Cord Nowell<br>Staff Writer
J.J. Jakovac spent his summer vacation reading fairways and dodging sand traps while competing in tournaments that took him all over the world.
Not bad coming from a guy who was cut from the golf team as a freshman in high school.
Last March, Chico State’s golf team was ranked No.1 among all Division II schools in the nation.
This season, the team is ranked No. 6 and is looking to its leader, Jakovac, to help win its conference and eventually a national title.
Chico State golf is part of the California Collegiate Athletic Association. It is one of the strongest conferences in Division II and is home to many of the top-ranked teams in the nation, according to the Golf Coaches Association of America national poll.
Last season, Jakovac competed in nine tournaments and finished in the top 10 in each of them. He earned selection as a first team Division II All-American. He was awarded most valuable player from the CCAA, and GCAA player of the year. With all his success, Jakovac last year earned the honor of being Chico State’s male athlete of the year.
“It is an honor to win the athlete of the year — I think I have won it two years in a row now,” Jakovac said. “There are so many other good athletes in the school to pick from, especially on the baseball team.”
Over the summer, Jakovac was able to develop his game by playing in tournaments all over the United States, Canada and overseas in Scotland and Japan.
On August 3, Jakovac finished second at the 2003 Western Amateur in Michigan. The tournament is the second largest amateur event in the country and featured 156 of the nation’s top amateur players. Past winners of the Western Amateur include Tiger Woods, Jack Nickalaus and Phil Mickelson.
The next day, and through Aug. 8, Jakovac played in the Pacific Coast Amateur in West Vancouver, British Columbia. He finished seventh out of 120.
Jakovac competed in the British Amateur on June 2-7 at the historic Royal Troon golf course, located on the west coast of Scotland. He finished second out of 300 people in the qualifying portion of the tournament and advanced to the 64-hole match play portion, where he was defeated in the third round.
On April 18, Jakovac was selected for an elite team of 12 collegiate players — eight men and four women — who competed in Fuji Xerox USA vs. Japan Collegiate Golf Championship, held July 15-18. In Tochigi Japan, Jakovac put in the lowest round one score for the U.S. team, shooting a 4-under-par 68, and helped the team to its eighth consecutive win over Japan.
Later in the month, Jakovac competed in the Porter Cup at Niagara Falls Country Club in New York, and recently Jakovac competed in the 2003 Amateur at the Oakmont Country Club in Pennsylvania.
“The travel this summer was lots of fun and I enjoyed experiencing the different cultures,” Jakovac said. “Scotland was amazing and provided a different type of golf than I was used to, and going to Japan was a culture shock for me because I couldn’t speak the language.”
Despite the loss of graduating seniors from the team, Jakovac is still confident it can improve from last year. The team had a strong recruiting summer, adding three quality freshmen: Nick Green, John Skelton and Mitch Berg. Jakovac doesn’t necessarily consider himself the leader of the team, claiming there are lots of talented players that can step up at any time.
Later this week, Jakovac will compete in the California State Fair Amateur. It is a 72-hole tournament comprised of a 96-player field of top, amateur golfers. This will be Jakovac’s last tournament of the summer. It is an event that he won last year.
Jakovac said, from a playing standpoint, he remains determined to set an example for his teammates.
“We have lots of talent on the team,” Jakovac said. “My goal for the upcoming season is to help Chico win a national.”<em>Cord Nowell can be reached at <a href= “mailto:[email protected]”>[email protected]</a></em>
