Start with minor swing changes and a couple of new putters, add a dose of confidence, sprinkle it with some aggressive putting strokes, and you have the top-ranked women’s golf team in the nation going for its second tournament win of the season.
That No. 1 team, the UCLA women’s golf team, will face No. 4 USC and No. 9 California today in the Kent Youel Invitational at Kapolei Golf Course in Hawaii.
At their last tournament in Stanford, assistant coach Alicia Um noticed a tremendous amount of improvement in the players’ distance control and putting. However, she is certain that there is still room for more improvement.
With that in mind, coach Carrie Forsyth has changed the Bruin practice routine recently.
“My hope (is) that if we can get a little more focus while we are at practice, it’ll carry over and transfer to the tournament,” Forsyth said.
The Bruins are on top of their game right now. Because each individual on the team has good technique, the coaching staff has concentrated more on eliminating each golfer’s minor weaknesses.
Since the beginning of the year, junior captain Ryann O’Toole has struggled with her confidence.
Forsyth said that confidence is the key when playing golf and O’Toole is not the only player struggling with this aspect of her game.
In fact, confidence could be the only thing sophomore Sydnee Michaels’ game is lacking. She has been performing at a consistent pace. Michaels recently made a major putting change and although it looks great, Forsyth said that Michaels still has to believe in it.
“She doesn’t make the putts she can and will make,” Forsyth said.
Michaels’ putting average per round is about 31.5. If she manages to get it under 30 then she will be shooting under par much more often.
Overall, the Bruins are known to be more aggressive putters. This will work on their side, considering that the course in Hawaii has grainy greens, although they are not as strong as the ones the Bruins recently played on in Stanford.
For the Kent Youel Invitational, the golfers are expected to have a better feel for the green and to try to roll the ball with heavier push.
Since the beginning of the season, the women’s golf team has worked on its short game, paying a great amount of attention to putting.
The improvements are apparent, but some of the younger players on the team have trouble grasping this idea.
Freshman Glory Yang’s expectation to perform at all times causes her confidence to slip when she does not hit the ball the way she expects herself to.
“Perfection is rarely attained ““ that’s the most important thing to realize,” Forsyth said.
Maria Jose Uribe, the other newcomer to the team, has had some difficulty grasping this idea as well.
She tends to have very high standards for herself and not displaying that caliber of game leaves her frustrated.
“Maria exudes confidence,” Um said.
However, as her coach knows, that confidence sometimes only skin-deep.
“When you stand outside, you look at Maria, you think she’s super super confident,” Forsyth said.
“Underneath that confident exterior, sometimes, there is lurking self-doubt.”
Uribe, who has had an exceptional start to her college career, is going through what Forsyth calls “a minor down cycle,” which every golfer, no matter what level she is playing at, goes through. Uribe’s ball striking is not where she wants it to be.
Additionally, her dissatisfaction is beginning to affect her outward confidence.
Despite the small changes that are on each player’s to-do list, the Bruins are ready to win the tournament that begins today and lasts until Wednesday.
UCLA has a history of winning at the Hawaii tournament. The Bruins have participated in this tournament several times and were victorious in both 1999 and 2004.
The Bruins are taking all their players to the tournament. The team will include Michaels, junior Tiffany Joh, Yang, Uribe and O’Toole.
Junior Maiya Tanaka and sophomore Lalita Boonnoppornkul will play as individuals.
“I expect us to win. I feel like we should,” Forsyth said.