The coastal wind howled in Waikoloa, Hawaii, on Wednesday as the UCLA men’s golf team battled its way to shooting even par and taking the overall lead at the Mauna Lani Invitational. Then, the winds steadied on Thursday and Friday, and the No. 13 Bruins found themselves at 885 (+21) for eighth place. Top 10 finisher Gregor Main couldn’t account for the odd change in winds and scores.
“We played well on the windy day, but we just didn’t really do great the last two (days),” said an obviously frustrated Main.
The tournament featured a multitude of talented teams and was one of the best fields the Bruins will face all year. But no team lived up to expectations, with the wind and course conditions skewing every team’s score. Not one team went under par, and collegiate golf’s powerhouse, No. 2 Stanford, took home the trophy by shooting 866 (+2).
Two familiar Pac-10 opponents for the Bruins, Oregon and Washington, finished tied for second, both shooting 869 (+5). The Ducks may have been the surprise of the tournament as they came into the event ranked at No. 29.
Texas’ Bobby Hudson fired a 66 in Friday’s final round to claim the individual title with a scoring total of 209 (-7).
Main finished at 217 (+1), which tied him for 10th place. Fellow sophomore Alex Shi Yup Kim wasn’t far behind at 218 (+2), tied for 16th. Freshman Pontus Widegren carded a 77 in Friday’s final round to drop him to six-over par overall, and Pedro Figueiredo carded an uncharacteristic 230 (+14). Freshman Bobby Lange’s score was dropped from the team total, following the five-count-four format of the event.
The Bruins showed that they could contend. Not only did they capture the first-round lead in team scores, Kim also had the individual lead after day one, firing a two-under par 70. Coach Derek Freeman said that this young Bruin squad has a lack of chemistry and experience to blame for the rise in later-round scores.
“It shows our youth and inexperience in college tournaments,” Freeman said. “These guys have a lot of individual experience, but this is only our third event of the year, as a team. At times, we’re as great as any team in the country. We just have to learn how to put day two and day three together.”
Freeman is referring to both Figueiredo’s and Widegren’s experience playing in Europe prior to enrolling at UCLA last fall, but translating individual success into team success is easier said than done.
“It’s different when you’re playing on a team,” Kim said. “There’s more pressure, and it’s difficult because golf is such an individual sport, so the team aspect is tough. It will take some getting used to for the young guys.”
The Bruins cited correctable mental errors as something they will work on this week. They suffered through seven double bogeys for the tournament, including a few lost balls and even a rare two-stroke penalty for playing the wrong ball. Kim knows there’s a lot of work to be done but maintained that he and his team are up to the challenge.
“We all have things to work on,” Kim said. “We’re all struggling with certain parts of our game, but we all know what needs to be done so this week we’re going to work hard and do our best to get ready for the next tournament.”
Freeman insisted on his team putting this tournament behind them as they prepare for next week’s tournament, closer to home, at Newport Beach’s Pelican Hill Golf Course.
“We’re a young team, and we’ve got to look at the positives, establish where we are, and move on,” Freeman said.