Santa Clara junior golfer Gio Gandionco was named to the preseason All-WCC team. Read the conference release.

Sporting a roster loaded with underclassmen and no seniors, the Santa Clara men's golf team began its 2014 fall season with plenty of question marks. But after a five-tournament season that saw a team and individual title the bar has been raised for the upcoming 2015 spring season that begins Wednesday.

The youthful squad grew up fast during a successful fall, but head coach Rob Miller wasn't surprised by what his guys accomplished. "They're young but experienced," Miller said. "They've all played a lot of events so there shouldn't be many surprises. Our juniors are veterans but still relatively young."

Miller uses his spring tournament schedule to prepare for the ultimate event, the WCC Championship, which takes place this year April 13-15 at the Saticoy Country Club. "Our conference is very strong and it's what we expected," Miller said. "We know the WCC is tough, but there is really no team that will be favored to win — not like last year."

The annual 54-hole event determines the WCC's team and individual automatic qualifiers for the NCAA regional championships. The Broncos are looking for their first team title since 1998. "Conference is pretty wide open," Miller added.

An impressive second-place finish at last year's WCC Tournament and a fall season that saw the Broncos show off their depth of talent with a win at the six-count-five Utah Ogio Invitational on Oct. 7, has this team in good position to be considered a favorite for the conference title.

The Broncos captured the title at the 13-team Utah tournament by firing the lowest score in each of the last two rounds and winning by 11 strokes with an even-par score. It was Santa Clara's first team title since capturing the six-count-five Long Beach State Del Walker Invitational on March 8, 2011.

The ability of his team to finish that tournament and get the win was what impressed Miller the most. "They proved they can handle being front runners and close out a tournament. The guys really turned it on at the end," he said following the tournament.

Though not deep in terms of numbers with just seven rostered players, this group has undeniable talent. "We don't have a true No. 1 player; we have a group of solid players," Miller stated. "And events like this (six-count-five) extend the depth of your squad. The more depth you have the better your chances."

Showing off their depth of talent during the fall, the Broncos had three different players lead the team in individual scoring in their five events, led by freshman Hayden Shieh who captured three top 10 finishes and the first individual title by a Bronco since 2011. "He's looked real good," Miller said of his lone first-year player. "He knows what he's doing."

That was apparent when Shieh won his first collegiate title with a one-shot victory at the Visit Stockton Pacific Invitational on Nov. 1. He scored under par all three rounds to top the 64-player field with an 8-under 205. He also became the first Bronco individual medalist since Scott Travers won the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate on Feb. 27, 2011.

A trio of juniors who have been the backbone of the team for the past several seasons are all back in an attempt to elevate the program to unprecedented heights.

Gio Gandionco played the best golf of his career during the fall competing in all 15 rounds with a 71.93 stroke average and six sub-par rounds to tie with Shieh for the team lead. Carlos Briones has been equally impressive, compiling a 72.92 average in 12 rounds while Drew Miller has been solid competing in 12 rounds over four events.

Shieh is in the running for conference Freshman of the Year honors after his impressive play in the fall that included his individual title, three top 10 finishes and a team-best 71.67 average with nine of his 15 rounds at or below par.

Last year's WCC Freshman of the Year, Tyler Kertson, overcame a slow start to his sophomore season with two top 10 finishes in the final three events of the fall, including his second career top-five placement when he took fifth place at the Bill Cullum Invitational in late October.

The last school to have consecutive conference freshman of the year winners was LMU in 2005 and 2006.

"We're very talented," Miller noted. "Our talent level is there for us to accomplish a lot this season. We're not real deep so it's important for us to say healthy throughout the season."

The spring season gets underway Wednesday at the prestigious John A. Burns Intercollegiate hosted by the University of Hawai'i at the Waialua Golf Course in Lihue, Kauai. It's the first of six tournaments leading up to the WCC Championship in April.

"We improved our schedule with the quality of tournaments and the quality of opponents," Miller noted. "We have the opportunity to move up a lot and improve our ranking if we play well but we may not win many tournaments. So it's a good news, bad news situation."

The squad will rack up some frequent flyer miles with trips to Opelika, Ala., to compete in the Tiger Invitational hosted by Auburn University March 8-10 and to San Antonio, Texas, for the Lone Star Invitational March 23-24.

Arizona is always a popular destination for golf and the Broncos will compete in a pair of events in the Grand Canyon State. The University of Arizona hosts the National invitational Tournament in Tucson from Feb. 28-March 2 and the University of Wyoming will host the Cowboy Classic in Scottsdale April 6-7.

The Broncos will stay close to home for The Goodwin, hosted by Stanford University March 26-28. Formerly known as the United States Intercollegiate, the event was renamed in honor of former Stanford golf coach Wally Goodwin and features many of the top programs in the country.

"It will be a good experience for the team no matter what," Miller said about the more difficult schedule. "With no seniors on our roster the guys will get an opportunity to see what it's like to play a competitive schedule and it will definitely help us for next year. It's going to be challenging, but I feel we are ready to compete with the best because we are working our way towards being the best."

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION

Name: John A. Burns Intercollegiate

Dates (Site): Wednesday-Friday, Feb. 18-20, 2015 (Lihu'e, Kaua'i)

Host: University of Hawai'i

Field (16 teams): Arizona, Brigham Young, BYU-Hawai'i, California, Colorado State, Fresno State, Long Beach State, Hawai'i, UH-Hilo, New Mexico, Santa Clara, Texas A&M, UNLV, UTEP, Virginia and Washington State

Details: 54 holes played over three days (18 holes each day) in a five-count-four scoring format. Rounds begin with a shotgun start at 10:30 a.m. (PT).

Course: Wailua Golf Course

Yardage-Par: 6,991 yards – Par 72

Course Website: www.kauai.gov

Live Scoring: www.golfstatresults.com