Pacific Union College's newest varsity sport has proven to be a swinging success. This year's first-ever men's varsity golf team won the California Pacific Conference division championships at the Bayonet Club in Monterey. Senior physical education major Scott Reed, who helped lead the Pioneers with a score of 82, was also named the 1997 Cal-PAC Golf Player of the Year.

"It was a great honor," said Reed. "I feel that it was certainly unexpected and a little undeserved." He pointed out that because of the weather, everyone else wasn't shooting very well and he was lucky to shoot so low. "Conditions were pretty crazy. There was wind going everywhere," Reed said.

After winning the Cal-PAC division, PUC competed in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) Far West Regional Championships held at the Rancho California course in Temecula.

The championships pitted Division I champs Point Loma Nazarene and the runner-up Cal Baptist against Division II champs PUC and their runner-up Dominican College.

For the championship game, Reed led the Pioneers once again with an 80 on the first round and an 83 on the second.

"I think our guys played extremely well, given the kind of competition they faced," said coach Chuck Evans. "We definitely stepped up against a Division I team."

Although PUC finished 7th overall at the championships, they ended up finishing third for the entire west NAIA.