Last year, the UCLA men’s golf team won two tournaments all year. It has already surpassed that total this year, winning its last three team events, most recently a sudden-death playoff victory this past weekend.
The Bruins will ride that wave of momentum back to the mainland this week as they prepare to travel to La Quinta for The Prestige tournament at PGA West.
They will be competing against 14 other prominent universities, including their co-hosts: No. 12 Stanford and UC Davis, as well as the defending tournament champions Oregon, and four other top-20 teams.
UCLA, boasting eight golfers in the top-150 and nine in the top-200 per Golfweek.com, will send seven players to La Quinta, led by senior Pontus Widegren, the NCAA leader in average score per round according to Golfstat.com.
Widegren, who finished tied for fourth at the Amer Ari Invitational, will be looking to build on a strong start to the season that has seen him finish in the top four in each of his three appearances while claiming one tournament title.
Figueiredo, who finished in a tie for 10th in Hawaii, will be attempting to add to his 11 career top-10 finishes.
Rounding out the starters for UCLA will be sophomores Manav Shah and Jay Hwang, each with two top-15 finishes this season, and freshman Jake Knapp, coming off an individual tournament victory at the CSU San Marcos Invitational at Shadowridge Country Club two weeks ago.
Junior Anton Arboleda and freshman Jonathan Garrick will join their Bruin teammates on the trip to La Quinta, but will not get the start.
Compiled by Adam Colman, Bruin Sports contributor