Last year’s national tournament was characterized by the classic Bruin-Trojan rivalry. The top-two teams in the nation won their respective regional tournaments, but it all boiled down to NCAA Championship.
In the end, the wet and windy conditions bothered UCLA, causing the Bruins to surrender the title to USC.
This year, the top-eight finishers from the regional tournaments, including the two Los Angeles teams, will travel to Owings Mills, Md., to compete at the NCAA Championship at the Caves Valley Golf Course, hosted by Georgetown University.
“The course is in great shape, an awesome course ““ a championship course,” sophomore Maria Jose Uribe said. “It’s going to test the abilities of every player, so that’s going to help us because the best players are going to perform good on this course.”
According to Golfweek, although the No. 2 Bruins have the deepest team with their starting-five ranked top-50 nationally, Arizona State is currently the hottest team with back-to-back victories at the Pac-10 Championships as well as the West Regional Championship. The defending national champion USC ranks No. 3.
Along with No. 13 Denver, both ASU and UCLA earned top seeds at the NCAA Championship from convincingly winning their respective regional events two weeks ago. USC finished second behind ASU at the West Regional Championship.
Uribe and the Bruins swept the NCAA Central Regional tournament for the second consecutive year, this time at the Ohio State University Scarlet Course.
“We’ve played our whole season ““ we’ve had to see these guys (Arizona State and USC) every weekend,” coach Carrie Forsyth said. “We’re familiar with these teams, we play with them all the time. At the end of the day, it’s a different golf course. It’s really about how we play on this golf course, not about what the other teams can do.”
Uribe will look to lead the Bruins again this week, but after this season she will be leaving UCLA to pursue a professional career.
“I’m just enjoying it, we just have to stay in the trust and don’t get too ahead of ourselves,” Uribe said of playing her last tournament. “We’re going to enjoy every minute of it. We have a chance to win, but we’re not going to think about it. Just go out there having fun.”
“(Uribe is) taking this very seriously. She wants to win, she wants her team to win, she’s here with us 100 percent,” Forsyth said. “She’s a great team player. We’re just trying to cherish these last few days. We’ve got four days left with her on the team and four days left with Tiffany Joh on the team. It’s emotional for us.”
The UCLA lineup features Uribe, freshman Stephanie Kono, who finished a stroke behind Uribe at regionals, junior Sydnee Michaels, sophomore Glory Yang and senior Joh.
The 72-hole tournament spans four days, unlike normal tournaments that run for three.
“Part of it is pacing yourself,” Forsyth said. “It’s grueling. … The course is really hilly, and it’s difficult.”
UCLA leads the nation with seven victories in 11 starts this season, tying the school record for most wins in a season.
The team that set that record was the 2004 squad, which won the national championship that year.
The Bruins tee off at 9:30 a.m. Pacific Standard Time today.