After Thursday’s initial round at the NCAA East Regional, the UCLA men’s golf team looked to be headed back to Westwood without qualifying for the NCAA championship for the first time in eight years.
The Bruins overcame their first round troubles by firing a 273 (-7) in the final round to finish in third place at 836 (-4). For the No. 6 Bruins, national champions in 2008, Saturday’s was the best final round of the Tournament. UCLA finished just one shot behind No. 7 Texas and Kent State who tied for first place.
By finishing in the top five at the regional, the Bruins know they will be moving on to compete in the national championship from June 1 to 6.
According to sophomore Gregor Main, the team knew it had the resilience to offset the first-round woes. The Bruins saw themselves at 10 over par and in last place on the leader board at one point Thursday.
“We weren’t too worried about it,” Main said of their first round. “We knew there was a lot of golf left and we were one of the better teams there so we just kept doing what we were doing and finished it off strong.”
Sophomore Alex Shi Yup Kim, No. 39 in the nation, and freshman Mario Clemens led the way for the Bruins, both finishing in a tie for eighth place overall at 208 (-2). Kim, arguably the Bruins’ most consistent player this season, carried the Bruins in the first round by carding a 67 (-3).
“I was driving the ball really straight, which was key on this course,” Kim said. “I played really smart and I just sunk a few putts here and there.”
East Tennessee State’s Ryhs Enoch and Penn State’s TJ Howe tied for the individual title.
Clemens, who solidified his role as the fifth player in the Bruins lineup earlier in the year, turned some heads by finishing tops on the team with Kim. Clemens said that he still is not totally pleased with his play.
“I started off poorly in the fall and I didn’t really play that great or up to my standards but now it’s coming along,” Clemens said. “I had six three-putts this week so I still have a lot to work on but it was satisfying to finish best on the team.”
Having to play in the East Regional in Connecticut forced the Bruins to travel a lot farther than they normally would, taking a red-eye flight to New York.
“It was tough,” Main said. “We were tired those first two days and it’s tough going to the East Coast.”
The Course at Yale presented a new challenge for the Bruins in that it featured an older style of play that was unfamiliar to the Bruins who play predominantly West Coast courses during the season.
“The course had quite a few blind shots which we weren’t used to,” Kim said. “I think it definitely favored teams that were from the east but there’s no time to complain about the course. We got used to it and I think we handled it well.”
The NCAA Tournament begins June 1 at The Honors Course at Chattanooga, Tenn.