The gap between No. 5 and No. 13 was bigger than expected on
Wednesday.
Thirty-six strokes wide to be exact.
Despite having its best performance of the year, the No. 13 UCLA
women’s golf team was a distant second place behind No. 5
Pepperdine in the San Jose State Spartan Invitational’s
14-team field.
California finished third, 44 strokes off the pace.
The Bruins shot an 882 (+18) overall, and had two golfers finish
tied for fourth individually.
But the Waves shot an 846 (-18) and had the top two golfers in
the tournament.
“I think we played well, and our first round was
awesome,” UCLA sophomore Charlotte Mayorkas said. “But
Pepperdine was playing unbelievable.”
The Bruins shot a first-round 283 (-5), which according to UCLA
head coach Carrie Leary, may be the best in UCLA history.
But they were still eight shots behind the Waves after round
one.
Both Mayorkas and Gina Umeck shot 70s.
“Shooting 70 is really good,” Leary said.
“Umeck played really solid. I’m proud of
her.”
“Charlotte’s been playing really well,” she
added. “She’s a really good birdie-maker and has been
hitting the ball better than she used to.”
Mayorkas and Umeck finished with a 217 (+1).
The remaining golfers on the team included junior Krystal
Shearer, who finished with a 224 (+8, 22nd overall), sophomore
Yvonne Choe with a 225 (+9, tied for 23rd) and Bridget Dwyer with a
232 (+16, 35th).
Melissa Martin played as an individual and shot a 229 (+13, tied
for 30th).
It was the third straight win for the Waves, who won their
previous two matches by five and 18 strokes, respectively.
The Bruins will not play again until March 24-25, at the UCLA
Bruin Classic in Santa Clarita, Calif.