When UCLA students return to classon Monday,there will be very few that can say they traveled as many miles as the UCLA men’s golf team did this past week.
However, it was business and not pleasure that brought the Bruins to Palo Alto, Calif. to end their break, determined to improve upon a disappointing eleventh-place finish in the Valspar Invitational in Florida a week ago.
With the ultimate goal of securing their maiden victory of the winter season, the No. 14 Bruins will take heart from a solid showing that saw them take home a share of second place in The Goodwin at Stanford University Golf Course this weekend.
“I think we’re very close to winning,” said sophomore Jonathan Garrick, who tied for 12th at 209(-1). “There’s only a couple of holes each week that keep us from playing our best. We improved a lot since last week and if we can continue that trend we can hopefully pick up a win before postseason.”
The Bruins finished level with the rival USC Trojans at 835(-5) in an 18-strong field containing six Pac-12 teams, and despite being some 20 shots behind winner and host Stanford at 815(-25), the conditions faced were very different from those that they are accustomed to.
“It rained pretty much the whole second day,” said sophomore Lorens Chan, whose 219(+9) gave him a share of 55th position. “But we managed the conditions well and put ourselves in contention. The ground was soft and that allowed us to be as aggressive as we wanted to be.”
UCLA’s encouraging showing was led by senior Anton Arboleda, who was the Bruins’ highest placed individual, shooting a 207(-3) over the course of three days for a share of seventh place.
“I felt solid about my game and hit it really well from tee to green,” Arboleda said. “I’ve been focusing on that quite a bit in training so it was nice to see it pay off in competition.”
The other UCLA starters, junior Matt Pinizzotto at 210(E) and redshirt junior Manav Shah at 211(+1), ended with a share of 16th and 20th position respectively.
The Bruins have just a week to prepare for their next competition at Chambers Bay in Seattle, Wash. starting April 7.