As a team, UCLA men’s golf has won six of its nine
tournaments this year, doubling the amount of victories from last
season. In two of their three losses, the Bruins have finished
second and fourth, demonstrating that they have been competitive
throughout.
Tuesday, the Bruins’ Blue team continued that winning
trend, dominating the field during the 7th Annual Cougar
invitational as it finished 2-under par and 23 strokes under
second-place Point Loma Nazarene.
The victory marks the season’s third tournament victory
for the Blue team.
Monday, UCLA rolled to an early nine-stroke lead in the first
round, shooting a 1-under par 287.
The second round of play was halted Monday night due to
darkness, but the Bruins took care of business Tuesday morning,
finishing their second round 2-over par with a 290 and increasing
their lead to 14 strokes over the field.
Lee won the overall individual honors for his first time, and
Leslie finished second.
Two other UCLA golfers finished in the top 10: Christianson tied
for seventh and sophomore Matt Marshall came in ninth.
UCLA junior Peter Campbell finished tied for 18th place.
Campbell had a tough second round, in which he shot a 7-over par
79, but moved on to a strong third round, shooting 1-under par.
Lee was excited about his first individual win, but is currently
more focused on his long-term team goal of winning the NCAA
championships, as well as his personal goal to move up to the Gold
team.
“I am excited to build on this,” Lee said. “I
just try to play my best.”
Assistant coach Gus Montaño, who traveled with the team, is
enthusiastic about the confidence these recent wins have brought
the players.
“It’s infectious,” Montaño said.
“We’re gaining some confidence.”
Coach O.D. Vincent is also happy with the competitiveness his
players have been bringing to every tournament.
“The thing I like about the team is that the more they
win, the harder they work,” Vincent said. “The
challenge that we have now is, we have had so much success in the
last month or so, … we (need to) keep that in perspective and
keep in mind where we are going.”
If UCLA can maintain this level of play, a NCAA Championship may
not be far off.
UCLA is three wins away from tying the Pac-10 record of nine in
a season, which was set by the Bruins two years ago, when they
finished second in the NCAA Championships.