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Allred breaks from slump in stunning style By KRIS HENRY Maybe the most surprised person on Jason Allred's record-setting golf outing was the Pepperdine sophomore himself. The former U.S. Junior Amateur champion has had numerous highs in his young golfing career, but more recently had been residing in the valley waiting for a breakthrough. That moment came Monday and Tuesday at the 54th annual Western Intercollegiate men's golf tournament at Pasatiempo Golf Course in Santa Cruz, Calif. Allred set 36- and 54-hole records for the tournament with an 11-under-par total of 199 and matched the course record with a second-round 63 on the 6,445 yard, par-70 course. In doing so, the former Ashland High standout's 199 also tied the fifth-lowest total in NCAA Division I golf this season, just two strokes away from the top spot. "To be honest, the fall season was pretty frustrating with just the way I played," says Allred, who turned 20 on Thursday. "I feel like I've been really close to breaking through before, but it really felt good to have things finally come together." In fairness, Allred's low-water marks in the fall would be acceptable to most any other golfer. Allred says the numbers weren't as troubling as the feeling that someone so used to excelling was posting mediocre results. "Golfing, it just seems like comes so easy some times," he says. "It seems like it should come easy all the time. When it doesn't, that's a hard place to be in." Allred refined the mechanics of his swing for the spring season, but more importantly, he looked within to find the most important piece of the puzzle. "It's kind of easy to get so wrapped up in shooting good scores and doing your part for the team," he says, "and sometimes I just lose sight of the fact that golf is just a game and I'm the same person whether I shoot 100 or 60. Just realizing I play because I enjoy the game kind of freed me up to have fun on the course and be myself." That rediscovered attitude, along with some work with his father, Gene, helped Allred set the stage for Pasatiempo. After carding one of his best rounds in a while with a first-round 66 Monday, Allred fired his course-record tying 63 later the same day. "I was pretty fortunate," says Allred. "It's easy sometimes after a real good round to have a letdown." Good fortune or not, it was still Allred who gently settled his approach shot on the first hole 2 inches from the cup. From there, his confidence soared. "That one shot right there was a really fortunate break to keep that train of thought going to try and take it low," he says. Allred might have taken it even lower than 63 had he not backed off the throttle on the back-nine. He eagled No. 13 to go 8 under and realized that parring the final holes would give him a 62. "It's almost like I protected," he says of his conservative play the last five holes. Regardless, Allred's momentum never waned in putting his name in the same company as golfing legends Ken Venturi and Howard Twitty. Venturi shares a piece of the course record, and Twitty held the previous tournament record of 205. "My name doesn't deserve to be up there at all with guys like Ken Venturi and those guys," says Allred. "It's exciting but also humbling." Allred was particularly pleased with how Pepperdine did as a team, finishing in second place just seven strokes behind ninth-ranked Fresno State. "The team aspect of college golf is what makes it really fun," he says. "It was really exciting to see our team do well. "Fresno State played unbelievable the first round and shot 14-under as a team. After that we beat them the next two rounds." Allred says that kind of performance should help the Waves move closer to realizing their team goal of making it through the regionals and on to nationals. As for his individual goals, this week's effort helped take care of at least one. Allred's goals for this year were to win a tournament and be both an academic and golf All-American. "This fall, that seemed kind of distant," Allred says of achieving his first goal. "I wondered how I was going to get there because everything wasn't quite clicking. It was definitely a blessing this past week to have it come together like that." As to what the future holds, Allred says he's just taking it one day at a time. "More than anything I'm really excited about everything in my life right now," he says. "Just being a college student and all the opportunities I've had has been amazing. I'm just going to try to improve my golf game and improve as a person as well." Today's Edition : News | Sports | Business | Weather | Tempo | Classifieds Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 2000, Medford, Oregon USA