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Senior Steve Conway will participate in The Prestige tournament and the Hooters Match Play Champi

The No. 1 UCLA men’s golf team is looking to end its fall season the same way it started it: with a win.

The Bruins will travel to La Quinta, Calif. to participate in The Prestige, an annual tournament hosted by UC Davis on the Mountain Course at the La Quinta Resort.

In their last two tournaments, the Bruins have finished second and third respectively, leaving head coach O.D. Vincent waiting for his team to validate its No. 1 ranking with a tournament victory.

“We want to finish the fall on a positive note,” Vincent said. “Even though it’s only been two tournaments since we’ve won, it has felt like a lot longer.”

Travelling to La Quinta will be seniors Steve Conway, Roy Moon, John Merrick, junior John Poucher and freshman Chris Heintz.

“I’m looking out for Steve and Roy this tournament,” Vincent said. “Steve is coming off a win and Roy had as good a two weeks of practice as I’ve seen him have.”

Senior Travis Johnson, a mainstay in the Bruins’ starting lineup, will not compete in The Prestige due to personal reasons. Johnson, who is not currently in Los Angeles, will rejoin the team later in the week when they compete in the Hooters Collegiate Match Play Championship.

“Travis has some other priorities for him at this time, and we can’t say no to him,” Vincent said.

According to Vincent, the players who are competing need to take advantage of a mountain course that places more of a premium on accuracy than on length off the tee.

“La Quinta is not overly long, but you need to hit the ball accurately if you’re going to score,” Vincent said. “We had the best average on par-5s in 2002-2003, and we’ve got to take advantage of the par-5s in order to be successful.”

After competing in The Prestige, UCLA will fly cross-country to Myrtle Beach, S.C. to compete in the second annual Hooters Collegiate Match Play Championship, held at the Barefoot Resort.

The 16-team field will compete in a double-elimination match play format that emphasizes more of the “team” aspect in collegiate golf.

UCLA, seeded No. 2 in the tournament, will play North Carolina State in its initial match.

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Freshman Chris Heintz qualified for the 2004 Buick Invitational, one of the elite tournaments in the PGA, to be held at Torrey Pines in La Jolla.

Heintz earned one of two qualifying bids and will be teeing it up with the likes of Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson.