Derek Bayley showed up for his first collegiate golf tournament last fall, a tourney hosted by USC, and took note of the golf bags around the putting green.

"I look at all the bags around the putting green and see Stanford, I see USC, I see Pepperdine ... and I see all these golf bags," recalled Bayley, the former Lakeland High star. "That's probably the moment it hit me, 'wow, this isn't the Kraus Invitational, this isn't the Lakeland invite.'"

Fast-forward a few months, and there was Bayley, a true freshman at Washington State, leading the Cougars at last week's Pac-12 men's golf championships at Palouse Ridge in Pullman.

Bayley finished in a tie for 15th at 3-over-par 283 for 72 holes - the best finish by a Cougar freshman in school history.

"I always seem to play well there," said Bayley, who estimated he's played that course around 75-80 times. "We didn't finish how we wanted to (the Cougar men finished 10th out of 12 teams), but overall it was an advantage on my part because I know that golf course better than a lot of people do."

LOCAL KNOWLEDGE helped him, he said.

"Most importantly with the wind - we played 2 1/2 to 3 rounds in a 10-15 mile-an-hour breeze," said Bayley, who carded a 5-under 65 in the second round, after which WSU sat in third place. "And when the wind's blowing, you're not aiming at flags, because the wind's going to move the ball so much, and you're having to play off slopes more, and you have to know what the green does, where the hole location is ... and you have to use those to your advantage if you want to play well there."

As it turned out, Lakeland switching its home course from Twin Lakes Village to The Links prior to Bayley's sophomore year helped him get accustomed to playing in the wind.

"Playing at The Links all the time in high school, that really helped me because the wind blows all the time out there, if not more than Palouse Ridge - just as much for sure," Bayley said.

A TWO-TIME state 4A champion at Lakeland, Bayley said he entered his first collegiate season with no expectations. It took a couple of tournaments in the fall for him to get his feet wet, he said, then he finished 10th at WSU's home tourney at Palouse Ridge.

"There was a very strong field there, I think eight Pac-12 teams there, and to finish in the top 10 there really got me going in the fall, and I really felt like I belonged," Bayley said.

Bayley says he's become a more consistent player in college.

"I did not have a round in the 80s this year, and I played in every tournament," he said. "Even in my high school days I would have a round in the 80s. A big part of not doing that (in college) is just staying focused all the time, and I was able to stay focused and bear down when I needed to. Another big part is not playing three sports anymore."

At Lakeland, Bayley was the starting quarterback as a junior, and an all-league basketball player as a senior.

Now, it's golf around the clock.

"Actually I did have a little break because I had mono in the winter for about a month and a half," Bayley said. "I didn't touch a club for a month and a half, which actually might have helped me because my body is so used to taking 4-5 months off of golf, and playing basketball during the winter, and playing football."

WSU WILL find out Monday morning if it received a bid to an NCAA regional. For those who follow Bracketology during the men's college basketball season, the equivalent in college golf is the Cougars might be on the outside looking in when the selections are made. Though the Pac-12 is loaded, the Cougars' low finish in the conference tournament on their home course might have hurt their chances.

"The feeling around our coaching staff and players is that we're going to be the first couple (teams) out, but anything can happen," Bayley said.

In a couple of weeks, Bayley plans to head back up to Wasilla, Alaska, for the third straight year for a local qualifier for the U.S. Open, which this year is June 18-21 at Chambers Bay outside Seattle. At Wasilla, Bayley will be among 15 golfers vying May 20 for one spot at a sectional qualifier at Tumble Creek in Cle Elum, Wash.

Bayley finished second in each of the last two local qualifiers in Alaska - by one stroke last year, by three strokes in 2013. If he makes it through local and sectional qualifying and does qualify for the U.S. Open, well, he said he's played Chambers Bay "quite a few times."

And the wind blows there, too.

Mark Nelke is sports editor of The Press. He can be reached at 664-8176, Ext. 2019, or via email at mnelke@cdapress.com. Follow him on Twitter@CdAPressSports.