After winning the national championship in 2011, the UCLA women’s golf team swung and missed at its title defense last season.
Despite performing at an elite level throughout the year, as evidenced by their seven tournament wins and long run as No. 1 team in the nation, the Bruins fell short in the NCAA Championship, placing eighth.
In December, a strange turn of events at a LPGA Qualifying School event left the Bruins without one of their top players, then-senior Stephanie Kono.
A series of miscommunications between tournament officials and Kono resulted in Kono turning professional, marking an end to her time with the UCLA team.
Despite the Bruins’ misfortune, they were still able to continue their strong play from the fall, winning four more tournaments in the spring, including a tie for first at the NCAA West Regional.
However, UCLA’s momentum faded in the NCAA Championship. Only two Bruins ““ then-senior Brianna Do and rising sophomore Erynne Lee ““ were able to finish in the top 50.
Although they were unable to finish last season on top, the Bruins figure to be right back among the elite teams, and their returning talent makes their chances of reclaiming the title as good as that of any school in the nation.
Aside from Kono and Do, who graduated this year, UCLA will return all members from last year’s team this fall, including rising junior Ani Gulugian. Gulugian finished first atop the individual leaderboard at the PING/ASU Invitational in April.
One of the main reasons for the Bruins’ success last season was the strong play of Lee, which they hope she will be able to replicate this coming season. In the Bruins’ four wins post-Kono, Lee’s average finish was in the top 10.
UCLA’s talented group of upperclassmen is led by rising senior Tiffany Lua, who hit her stride last season. Lua was a top-10 finisher in nine of the 12 events she played in last season.
Lua won’t be alone in her senior leadership as she’ll be joined by rising redshirt senior Lee Lopez. Last season, Lopez had seven top-10 finishes, including a tournament win at the Rainbow Wahine Invitational in Kapolei, Hawaii.
Their combination of talent and experience, both young and old, has the Bruins set up for another strong season come fall.
Compiled by Steven Covella, Bruin Sports senior staff.