Perfect fit.
Those were the words Carrie Forsyth, coach of the top-ranked UCLA women’s golf team, used to prospect Tiffany Lua, who signed a National Letter of Intent to don the blue and gold next fall.
Currently a senior at Los Altos High School in Rowland Heights, California, Lua is ranked fifth nationally by the American Junior Golf Association. Lua advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Women’s Amateur Publinks Championship this past June and tied for 13th individually at the U.S. Women’s Amateur Championship in August.
“She’s got the whole game,” Forsyth said. “She’s a good ball striker ““ she hits great shots. She’s got a really solid short game ““ her putting is excellent. Overall, she’s the whole package; she’s got the whole game.”
UCLA started the recruiting process with Lua in fall 2007, when the three-time AJGA All-American was only a junior in high school.
“She was a player that I looked at for a long time, playing junior golf for many years,” Forsyth said. “I’ve been following her career. She’s from the Southern California area so (I) had a lot of opportunities to see her play.”
Forsyth said that Lua verbally committed on playing as a Bruin in December 2007 after making an unofficial visit to Westwood in the fall. The signing took place last month, but Lua had her heart set on UCLA the whole time.
“In the recruiting arena, things have really speeded up,” Forsyth said. “We’re getting our commitments really early from these players ““ a lot of times before they’ve made official visits.”
Forsyth said that the team tries to encourage prospects to come early on unofficial visits to have an opportunity to see campus and to get to know the team.
“And we have an opportunity to get to know the player, see who they are and what they’re doing,” Forsyth said. “It worked out really well (with Lua).”
Forsyth said that the team looked at seven prospect players to add to the 2009-10 roster, but Lua stood out above the rest.
“There was a fair amount of really good players in that class, but she, for us, was the best fit, without question because she had the academic record and because she was such a solid player,” Forsyth said. “The upside to her game and who she was and how she fit with our program was so great that we couldn’t pass her up.”
With the departure of three seniors, including All-American Tiffany Joh, Maiya Tanaka and Ryann O’Toole, following this season the Bruins will have to the rely on Lua to fill those shoes when she joins the club in fall 2009.
“I fully expect that she’ll contribute right away,” Forsyth said. “Obviously we’re losing three really solid players. Lua is coming in at a very high level ““ she will develop while she’s here ““ but she doesn’t need to come in (and) develop before she can play. She’s already good enough to play.”