The UCLA men’s golf team will compete for the Pac-10 Championship this weekend in Seattle and will take on some of the best teams in the country in its first test of the postseason. Luckily for the Bruins, they are finally starting to jell as a team.
Alternating between many different starting lineups over the past few months, the Bruins seem to have settled on one that has brought them together.
Sophomore Connor Driscoll has been shuffled from the starting lineup, to the bench, to competing as an individual, but he will be back in the starting lineup for the postseason.
“Over the last three weeks or month, we’ve started playing a lot better than we were the first half of the season,” Driscoll said. “I think our team chemistry has grown a lot the last few weeks, and I think that has a lot to do with (our success).”
It is imperative that the Bruins get off to a good start. Two rounds take place on Monday, and only one round is played on Tuesday and Wednesday. Even though the Pac-10 Championships are the first tournament of the postseason, the Bruins will advance to regionals, regardless of their performance.
One of the young UCLA golfers who has consistently been at the top of the leaderboard is freshman Gregor Main, who has seven top-20 finishes.
“Our team has been playing a lot better lately,” Main said. “This is a good way to get prepared for regionals and nationals.”
UCLA’s ongoing rivalry with USC has also been at the forefront of the last few events. UCLA finished ahead of USC two tournaments ago at the U.S. Collegiate Championship, but USC got the best of UCLA at the U.S. Intercollegiates.
Currently, few players are playing better than UCLA senior Erik Flores. Flores has recent first-, second- and seventh-place finishes to his credit.
“This is another chance to get after USC and Washington,” Flores said. “I’m trying to keep things simple, not do too much, and just go out and play.”