The year 2006 was a humbling time for the women’s golf team. Loaded with talent and championship aspirations, the Bruins finished eleventh at the 2005-2006 National Championship. Then, in the summer, two top players left for the pro tour. In September coach Carrie Forsyth took a maternity leave.
But the Bruins haven’t flinched. Even without Forsyth they finished the first half of the season ranked 10th nationally. Now Forsyth is back, and UCLA has its sights on a fourth straight Pac-10 title.
“We’ve established some humility again. We have to re-earn respect, and that’s a good thing.” Forsyth said. “I still believe we can win the Pac-10 and get back into the top five nationally.”
Today UCLA begins the championship segment of its season at the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge at Palos Verdes Country Club. The course is one of the toughest the Bruins will play on all year, and 13 of 15 teams in the field are ranked in the top 25.
“A win at the Regional Challenge would be huge. We would jump to the top five, but more than that it would be huge for our confidence to get that first win,” Forsyth said.
Indeed, UCLA has yet to win a tournament this year, although the fall season was a positive. Four players have positioned themselves as potential All-Americans: senior Hannah Jun, sophomores Tiffany Joh and Ryann O’Toole and freshman Sydnee Michaels.
Jun is a former All-American and the team’s leader. She is returning from an injury-plagued junior season.
“It’s different, being a senior. I look at all my teammates and their stress; it’s everything that I’ve been through. It just takes time,” Jun said, “We have a young team, but we’re managing.”
Joh, the 2006 Pac-10 Newcomer of the Year, joins Jun at the top of the Bruins’ roster. She is ranked No. 17 in the nation individually, higher than any other Bruin. She was a part of a star-studded recruiting class that included former Bruin Jane Park.
Park left UCLA unexpectedly after just one season. The decision came after Park’s amateur status prevented her from collecting a $70,000 prize at the U.S. Open last summer.
“We did lose two of our top players (from last season). But we definitely have a stronger work ethic. We have as good a chance as anyone; we’re not rebuilding,” Joh said.