The UCLA men’s golf team has talked about its incredible potential all season long. This weekend, the Bruins reached that potential as they put together their best team performance of the year, which resulted in their first victory at the NCAA Central Regional in Kentucky.
UCLA placed four golfers in the top 20 individually and, with the win, advances to the NCAA Championships later this month.
In a tournament plagued by rain delays and changing weather, the Bruins came back from nine strokes behind on the final day to finish seven strokes ahead of Washington.
Sophomore Philip Francis led the Bruins with a score of 214 (-2), good enough for third place. But even with the high finish, he came away disappointed after bogeying and double-bogeying the final two holes to drop out first place and finish in third.
“We came back from behind and beat the hottest team in the country, Washington,” Francis said. “Everyone is excited (about the victory), but a couple of guys, including myself, are upset at the way we finished.”
Francis implemented a new swing this season and had been inconsistent, but he put it all together this weekend as he played his best tournament of the year. Francis said that down the stretch he reverted to a few of his old bad habits under pressure but was anxious to get another chance to win.
“For Philip individually, he’s disappointed that he didn’t win, but he’s excited that he got the opportunity,” coach Derek Freeman said. “He was in the middle of it, was right there, and it just didn’t happen this time.”
Also carrying the Bruins to victory was senior Erik Flores, who shot 68 (-4) in the final round to finish in sixth-place at 215 (-1) for the tournament. Flores has been hot, finishing in the top 10 in five straight tournaments.
“I was just taking it each shot at a time,” Flores said. “I think everyone just really wasn’t intimidated by anyone in the field, and this was the first time we actually had our heads held high from the start.”
The Bruins’ confidence has been high since the final round of Pac-10 Championships, when they shot the best round of the day to jump from eighth to sixth place.
“It’s a huge victory for us in the second-most-important tournament during the year,” Freeman said.
One reason the Bruins won was because they received contributions from the entire team.
They finished with four of their five golfers in the top 20, an encouraging statistic considering the depth of the tournament.
Freshman Gregor Main finished in a tie for 11th and freshman Alex Kim had two strong rounds to finish at 221 (+5).
“We haven’t had a super successful year, but we stepped up when it counts,” Main said. “We know we still have work left to do to get ready for nationals. We all know that we left shots up there and still got more in us.”