OPELIKA, Ala. “”mdash; For a moment on Friday, it looked like it
wasn’t meant to be.
With the footsteps of Oklahoma State and No. 1 Duke thundering
down on them, the members of the No. 2 UCLA women’s golf team
were rattled.
Yet, it may have been a bit of thunder that saved them.
As the No. 2 UCLA women’s golf team teed off in the final
round of the NCAA Championships on Grand National Lake Course in
Opelika, Ala., its confidence was soaring.
Only a funny thing happened Friday afternoon.
For the Bruins, short-range putts, which had been going in
center cut, were now lipping out. Drives, which had previously
split the fairway, found the rough instead.
The Bruins’ trademark composure and focus, a staple of the
team all season long, had quickly abandoned them.
“We were definitely sliding,” UCLA coach Carrie
Forsyth said. “They were nervous.”
Then, only then, did the Bruins hear the sweetest sound of the
day.
With reports of lightning strikes in the area and the threat of
thunderstorms approaching the course, course officials sounded the
horn to suspend play.
For the Bruins, the stoppage couldn’t have come at a
better time.
Having allowed their competitors to chew up most of a five-shot
lead going into the round, the Bruins used the 3-hour 17-minute
delay to relax and ease their minds.
And they used every minute of it wisely.
“When we came off the golf course, I took them aside and
told them that this wasn’t over,” Forsyth said.
“We had a lot of golf left and had to come back and focus on
the golf course and play our game.”
Instead of working on its golf game, UCLA took the opportunity
to converse with the young spectators underneath the clubhouse for
the majority of the break.
The conversation ranged from the Los Angeles Lakers to songs
featured on BET, and it all seemed to lighten the mood around the
team.
One team chose to pass the time performing limbo with golf
clubs. At one point during the delay, Bob Umeck, father of Bruin
Gina Umeck, serenaded those within earshot with an opera
rendition.
The reviews were quite positive.
“The break did us a lot of good,” sophomore Susie
Mathews said. “I was sort of pressing out there, trying a
little bit too hard. It made us much more comfortable.”
When the horn sounded to signify a return to action, a different
UCLA team took to the course.
Slumped shoulders turned into confident strides, and the results
showed.
The Bruins, who were collectively 4-over par for the final round
at the start of the delay, finished their remaining holes on Friday
and Saturday in 2-under par.
“We had to regroup,” Forsyth said. “The girls
played with so much more poise. We really started to play our game.
I’ll never forget it.”
Conversely for the Blue Devils, the suspension of play seemed to
stall their charge. Having chipped five shots off of UCLA’s
seven shot lead before the horn sounded, Duke was never the same
after the weather delay.
At even-par before the stoppage, the Blue Devils went on to post
a collective 7-over par to finish the tournament, and were unable
to validate their dominant season.
“There’s no way I can point to that as the sole
reason,” Duke coach Dan Brooks said. “But it had some
effect on us.”
Ironically, there was not a single raindrop or lightning strike
during the delay.