Sophomore finishes at 8-under par, helps carry group to
victory OPELIKA, Ala. “”mdash; While it was freshman Hannah
Jun and junior Charlotte Mayorkas who carried the No. 2 UCLA
women’s golf team for the majority of the postseason, it was
sophomore Susie Mathews who put the team on her shoulders at the
NCAA Championships. The sophomore fired four rounds of par or
better to finish the championship at 8-under par and alone in third
place. Aside from a few holes on Friday afternoon, Mathews was able
to keep her nerves in check and never succumbed to the intense
pressure. “I think everyone’s heart was beating out
there,” Mathews said. “As long as you can control your
nerves, you can use it to your advantage.” For Mathews, who
played in the final group the last three days of the tournament,
the championship wasn’t over until she putted out, although
the scoreboard confirmed otherwise. Only when she walked up the
18th hole and looked to her left at the giant scoreboard, she
started to reflect on what she and her team had accomplished.
“Walking up the 18th, I didn’t know anything,”
Mathews said. “I checked the leaderboard and said, “˜Is
this true?'” Mathews shared the good news with her
family back in Australia via e-mail. Her younger brother had stayed
up all night to follow the golf results live on the Internet.
VANDERBILT PLAYER DISQUALIFIED:
Vanderbilt’s May Wood was ruled ineligible to compete due to
academic reasons. Her team was forced to compete with four players
while the rest of the field competed with five. Vanderbilt, which
had won the Central Regional, finished fifth.
NO REST: How did some Bruins celebrate?
Disneyland will have to wait. Mayorkas and Jun both flew to Arizona
to compete in U.S. Women’s Open qualifying tournaments.