After working its way back into contention going into the last
round of the Pac-10 Championships, the UCLA men’s golf team
put up its worst round of the tournament Wednesday.
The Bruins shot a final round of 23-over par and finished in
third place at 30-over for the tournament, 20 strokes behind Pac-10
champion Arizona.
“It’s an unsuccessful tournament for us,” UCLA
coach O.D. Vincent said. “We feel like we should have
won.”
Because of the wind and the rough conditions at The Gallery at
Dove Mountain in Tucson, Ariz., scores went way up for every team
““ except Arizona.
“We just got off to a slow start,” Vincent said.
“When you hit it off line (Wednesday), it was almost always a
2-stroke penalty.”
Going into the final day, Arizona State was leading Arizona by
nine strokes and UCLA by 11.
But Arizona’s 365 gave them the lead after Arizona State
put up a 379 and UCLA a 383.
Individually, five of the six Bruins’ final round scores
were at least four strokes higher than their third round.
“It was a tough day for the squad,” Vincent said.
“We’re going to use the disappointment for
motivation.”
The remaining schedule only gets tougher for the Bruins. Up next
are the NCAA West Regionals in Oregon from May 20-22, and if they
finish high enough there, the NCAA Championships.
“We need a fresh perspective for Regionals. There was
plenty of frustration out there,” Vincent said. “When
it goes sideways, it really tests your character.”
UCLA had high hopes before the season started since it returned
all five starters from a team that finished No. 3 in the nation
last year.
But the Bruins have played inconsistently and at times have
failed to live up to expectations.
Senior Travis Johnson was the top Bruin finisher, placing fifth
overall (2-under, 286) despite a 75 on the final day. Johnson
finished seven shots behind Arizona’s Henry Liaw, who won the
event.
Bruin senior Steve Conway’s 73 helped him climb up to a
tie for ninth overall with a 2-over 290. Junior John Poucher fell
from ninth to 14th place on the final day with an 81.
John Merrick finished 21st with a 12-over par 300 (77 on the
final day), Roy Moon finished tied for 33rd with a 16-over par 304
(77 on Wednesday), and Peter Campbell rounded out the Bruin lineup
with a 22-over par 310 (85 on the final day).