For the UCLA women’s golf team, the focus for this weekend was improvement.
Many of the women began the weekend on a rough note, some Bruins scoring as many as five bogeys and two double bogeys in their first round.
Once again, UCLA ended the weekend at Palo Alto, Calif. tied for eighth with rivals Oregon State with a score of 879 ( 27) by the last day.
“I think that we performed really well (Sunday) as a team. We really came together, and each day, we improved a little bit,” said junior Ani Gulugian.
Freshman Louise Ridderstrom had a fantastic second round, significantly improving from her first round by six strokes, ending Saturday with one stroke over par.
She finished the weekend with a score of 224 ( 11), tied with senior Lee Lopez.
“I’m making different adjustments to my swing, so it’s just a little tough to go out and score after changing things around and not being completely comfortable yet, but I think we did improve,” Lopez said.
“(The third) round showed what we can do as a team and I think we just need to piece it together.”
As a whole, the Bruins are still adjusting to the changes they have been making. Coach Carrie Forsyth explained that although it is not ideal to change their play during fall tournaments, these changes will benefit the women in the long run.
“It’s a process and we’re just trying to get as prepared as we can for when the events count the most,” said Forsyth, pointing to the more important tournaments which take place in the spring.
Sophomore Erynne Lee led the Bruins as she marked a score of 216 ( 3).
Lee struggled on the second day getting five bogeys and only one birdie, but saw great improvement in her final round of the competition when she finished one stroke under par.
“We didn’t have the best finish in the world but we’re all working on things and personally I am going through a few changes right now, so I was actually pretty happy with my score,” Gulugian said.
The junior followed two strokes over Lee, ending the weekend with 218 ( 5).
Despite the struggles experience during the tournament, the team is intent on continuing to make the necessary changes to improve.
“We’re kind of just struggling through it, but we’re hoping as we go out more and more, we’re going to have time to get everybody as sharp as they need to be,” Forsyth said.