It’s not often a team finishes a tournament a collective
30-under par and is dissatisfied with the result.
Even rarer, however, is when a team finishes 19-over par and
feels much better about itself.
Yet that’s exactly the situation the No. 8 UCLA
men’s golf team found itself in on Tuesday.
One week after posting a disappointing 13th place finish in
their season-opening tournament in Hawaii, the Bruins rebounded
with a third-place finish at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate
Championships held on famed Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra,
Fla.
Coming into the third and final round tied for second place and
only four shots behind the leader, UCLA fired a team-total of
3-over par, its best round of the tournament.
But even that wasn’t enough to keep up with No. 18
Florida, who posted a tournament-best 8-under par on Tuesday,
allowing the team to take the tournament title with a 54-hole total
of 10-over par.
Despite not coming away with the trophy, the Bruins appear to be
walking away from Tuesday’s final round at Sawgrass as a
much-improved team.
For the second consecutive tournament, sophomore Joakim Renstrom
paced the Bruins with a fourth-place individual finish, shooting
1-over par over the three days. Though Renstrom was forced off the
course in UCLA’s opening tournament due to food poisoning,
the Swedish native made a strong return to action. He was able to
post rounds of 71, 74 and 72.
An even more encouraging sign for the Bruins is the resurgence
of senior captain John Poucher.
Asked to be the foundation of this year’s team, as well as
aid UCLA’s young golfers in their transition to the
collegiate game, Poucher’s added responsibilities could
possibly have adversely affected his scoring in the early
season.
On Tuesday, however, Poucher torched Sawgrass by shooting a
4-under par 68, the best round shot by a Bruin in the
tournament.
Besides Renstrom, Poucher was the only other UCLA player to
finish in the top-20, placing in a tie for 19th at 6-over par.