UCLA men’s golf concluded its season on Saturday by placing seventh overall at the 110th NCAA Men’s Golf Championship hosted by Virginia Commonwealth University at the Golden Horseshoe Gold Course in Williamsburg, Va.
The No. 4 Bruins had high expectations this season, however, their hopes of winning a national title were crushed by double bogeys and outstanding performances from many other teams.
The tournament seemed to be divided into two halves for the Bruins. While they began the championship scoring high numbers, after the second round, they showed signs of improvement.
“We really did a great job fighting back every round,” coach O. D. Vincent said.
“We just kept getting off to terrible starts to each round. The best news is that is about as flat as we can play and we are still in the hunt at the end.”
In the third round, with the assistance of junior Kevin Chappell, the Bruins were able to keep a solid place in the top 10. This was Chappell’s only performance under par; he accumulated seven birdies by firing 65, 5-under par. He was able to climb 68 spots on the leader board, finishing the third day of competition tied for 23rd place.
“Kevin again learned a lot this week,” Vincent said. “His development has been outstanding this year. He is truly one of the best players in the nation.”
Chappell kept his cool for the final round of the tournament, scoring 70 on the last day. He finished the year in 20th place overall in the nation.
Sophomore Lucas Lee climbed 19 places from day three to finish tied for 22nd place with an overall score of 281, 1-over par.
Sophomore Erik Flores and junior Daniel Im ended their season tied for 46th place with an overall score of 287, 7-over par.
After the third day of the competition, only the top 15 teams were allowed to go into the fourth round. Crosstown rival USC did not make the cut.
Trojan Jamie Lovemark, who did not begin the tournament playing at the level that most people expected, had a hot hand during the third and fourth rounds. He fired 6-under par twice in a row.
On Saturday, Lovemark became the national champion, finishing the tournament with 271, 9-under par.
“What can you say?” Vincent said. “He is currently the best player in the country, period. Jamie Lovemark proved that age and experience are not very relevant. Determination and a great work ethic have to be the foundation.”
The Bruins did advance to the fourth round of the tournament. They had a decent round on Saturday, hitting 284, 4-over par. They finished the tournament with an overall score of 1,130, 10-over par.
Meanwhile, it was Stanford that was crowned this year’s national champion. The Cardinal led the entire tournament, finishing with 1,109, 11-under par ““ the only team to finish with a performance under par. No. 1 Georgia finished second with 1-over par. Lamar University and UNC Charlotte tied for third with overall scores of 1,125, 5-over par.
“Stanford was solid top to bottom,” Vincent said.
“Every other team had to count a high score somewhere along the line.”
The Bruins ended their season in the top 10 for the fourth time in the past five years. Although they have displayed that UCLA golf is a program with many high qualities, they are still a team that needs to prove to the nation that they have the potential to be the best.
“We are extremely motivated to go back next year and win this tournament,” Vincent said.
“We have a lot of improving to do.”