The experience gained in a close match in any sport is invaluable, especially when playing against a crosstown rival in a tournament decided by one stroke. The UCLA women’s golf team played its way to the No. 1 rank from Golfweek this fall, but fell to USC in the Pac-12 Preview this weekend.
The team’s last fall tournament was a close one, but the No. 1 Bruins lost in the Pac-12 Preview by one stroke to the No. 2 Trojans, even though freshman Bronte Law won her first individual tournament.
Despite the loss, the team is excited about its overall improvement so far this offseason, and is looking forward to learning from the experience of a neck-and-neck tournament with a top-ranked team. The tournament is meant as a preview to regular season play, and UCLA was able to judge the talent of the other four top-10 teams in the conference.
Coach Carrie Forsyth said she was grateful of her team’s effort on the course, but was saddened by the single-stroke loss in the end.
“It was painful,” Forsyth said. “There was no live scoring, so we weren’t sure where anybody stood. To lose by one doesn’t make you feel very good.”
After exceeding expectations and earning the No. 1 individual ranking in the country from Golfweek, freshman Alison Lee was derailed by a four-stroke penalty at the very beginning of the tournament, she said.
“We thought we had a really good chance this week,” Lee said. “I think all of us had a little shot here or a little shot there throughout the entire week.”
The team is confident in its ability to shoot low scores, but the Bruins want to eliminate the double bogeys and other mistakes they made this weekend.
“We made a lot of errors this week,” Forsyth said. “I feel like we could have won, and we know we’re good so next spring we’ll have some great finishes.”
It was an up-and-down performance for the Bruins this weekend, including some impressive birdies and other missed opportunities that posted bigger numbers.
“I saw a lot of good things, a lot of really great shots, but there were some errors in the short game and too many three putts,” Forsyth said.
According to Lee, there is no greater motivation than the desire to beat USC, and she believes that this weekend’s loss will give the team more of an edge throughout the season.
“I think it’s a learning experience for all of us,” Lee said. “It just makes us want to beat USC even more and we’re going to do everything we can to be No. 1 in the end.”
With a few months off before the next tournament, the team has time to work individually, but they will have quality performances from the fall to improve upon before springtime.
“We feel really good,” said sophomore Louise Ridderstrom. “We’re going to practice and work on our game so we’ll be even better in the spring.
Forsyth said she believes the team is very confident and determined after a frustrating loss, especially after winning a couple tournaments this fall.
“It’s frustrating to know that you’re good and get beat twice in a row by your biggest rival,” Forsyth said. “We know that we’re good enough to beat them by a lot, so we just have to play completely cleaned up and we’ll be right there.”