Nov. 14, 2012

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BERKELEY - The top-ranked Cal men's golf program signed Jay Burlison (Salinas, CA/Palma HS) and Clayton Madey (Lake Oswego, OR/Lake Oswego HS) to national letters of intent on Wednesday. The current high school seniors will arrive at Cal in the fall of 2013.

"We've really been selective with this small class because we should have all but one player from this year's team coming back next season," Desimone said. "But, we're really excited about these two young men, and they're really excited to be coming to Cal. That's usually a wonderful combination."

Burlison has compiled six top-10 finishes in AJGA play over the last two years, highlighted by a second-place showing at the 2011 Southern Junior (67-75-78 - 216). He was also the youngest player at the time to win an open AJGA event when he captured the Mayakoba Junior Golf Classic in 2008 at the age of 14. He also won amateur events earlier in his career at the Callaway Junior World Championships and the U.S. Kids World Championship. In addition, Burlison was named the 2012 Mission Trail Athletic League Most Valuable Player as a junior, and academically he has received High Honors (above 4.0 GPA) at Palma High School since 2010 and been on the HP Scholastic Honor roll for each of the past two years.

"Jay has a really good track record and fits our mold very well as a solid student, who is also athletic and a good player," Desimone said. "He has a great chance to fall right in line with some of the terrific student-athletes we have in this program. He does a lot of things right and is definitely motivated. We're really pleased to have him."

"I'm very excited about coming to Cal," Burlison said. "Coach Des and Walter do an incredible job, and the players just get better and better. I'm also excited to be at such a good academic institution. That was really important for my family and I, it's just a great balance between golf and academics. That was one of the main reasons I chose Cal."

Madey earned honorable mention AJGA Rolex All-American honors in 2012 while winning a pair of amateur tournaments, taking home individual medalist honors at the Oregon Junior Tournament of Champions (68-72 - 140) and capturing the match play Oregon Junior Amateur Championship. Other top-10 amateur finishes in 2012 have included his showings at the Western Junior (72-70-71-70 - 283) and Goodman Networks at Traditions, where he finished tied for second and tied for 10th, respectively. Madey also represented the West team at the 2012 Wyndham Cup. In addition, he was a key member of his prep state champion squad as a 2012 junior, with a sixth-place individual showing at the event (74-74 - 148) as his team captured the state title for the second time in three years after also winning during his 2010 freshman campaign. Madey has also earned honorable mention academic All-American honors in 2012.

"We got into the ballgame pretty late with Clayton, but he comes highly recommend from people we respect," Desimone said. "He's played well in a number of the nation's top junior events and, again, he fits the mold of the high achieving young men that we have as student-athletes in our program."

"I was looking around at a few universities before I decided to go to Cal," Madey said. "The whole time Cal was one of the places I thought would have been the best, and as I learned more and more about the university, it just became so clear that I wouldn't want to go anywhere else. Fortunately, I was lucky enough to have Coach Des want me to be a part of the team. I'm really looking forward to coming down to Cal, getting the swing of school and playing for the team. I know that UC Berkeley provides a unique experience athletically and academically."

Cal won five consecutive tournaments in the fall of 2012 and is already only one shy of the school-record six events captured by the 2011-12 team that reached the NCAA semifinals after winning its first Pac-12 Championship and NCAA Regional team titles along the way. Dating back through the entire 2011-12 season, Cal has won 11 of its last 19 events and finished in the top five in all 19.

2013 Cal Men's Golf Signing Class

NAME - YR - EXP - HOMETOWN (LAST SCHOOLS)
Jay Burlison - FR - HS - Salinas, CA (Palma HS)
Clayton Madey - FR - HS - Lake Oswego, OR (Lake Oswego HS)