UCLA men’s golf surged up the leader board on Friday, the second day of competitive play at the Amer Ari Invitational – only to fall short of its repeat-champion aspirations in the final round on Saturday.
UCLA finished The Amer Ari Invitational in Hilo, Hawaii, tied for seventh place at 837 (-27), 18 strokes behind tournament winner Oklahoma State at 819 (-45).
After a sluggish first day, which saw them shoot a combined -5, placing them 13 strokes behind eventual winner Oklahoma State, the UCLA golfers shot the second-lowest score of the tournament at 271 (-17) on Friday, putting them back into contention.
Sophomore Lorens Chan played no small role in the Bruins’ two-day success, recording a first-round score of 68 (-4) and a second-round score of 65 (-7) to tie him for second among individual leaders, one shot behind the leader.
Going into the final round Saturday, the Bruins were in sixth place and just six shots behind the leaders.
But that was as close as they would come.
The Bruins shot a final round at 283 (-5) to finish the tournament tied for seventh place.
Chan finished the tournament with a final-round score of 73 (+1) to earn him a tie for a ninth-place individual finish with a final score of 206 (-10). Sophomore Jonathan Garrick, who shot a final round 68 (-4), finished the tournament tied for 24th at 209 (-7).
The Bruins won’t resume play until Monday, Feb. 17 at The Prestige at PGA West, a tournament co-hosted by Stanford and UC Davis in La Quinta, California.
Compiled by Brandon Dupre, Bruin Sports contributor.