Being six shots behind the fifth and final qualifying spot for the NCAA national championships with just nine holes to play is difficult for any golfer.
Overcoming that deficit to ensure that the season doesn’t come to a premature end is even harder. Such was the challenge facing the UCLA men’s golf team.
“I tried to explain to them our tough tournament schedule and our practice helps prepare you for these moments,” said coach Derek Freeman. “If you just stay within yourself and give it all you have, at the end you will never question what you might have achieved.”
These words sparked the beginning of a remarkable turnaround for the Bruins, as they secured their 12th consecutive finals berth on the last hole of the three-day competition in San Antonio.
“We are all pretty excited after finding ourselves in a position that we didn’t expect to be in,” said sophomore Jonathan Garrick, who tied for 12th place individually at 216 (E). “To come back in that way made us feel like we had won it.”
Birdies on the 18th, first by senior Anton Arboleda and then sophomore Lorens Chan, propelled the Bruins into the final qualification spot at 869 (+5).
“Coming into the last hole we wanted to finish strong and we knew that we were close,” said Arboleda, who tied for 25th at 220 (+4). “We played a couple of shots that were high risk but the reward was even greater when we managed to pull them off.”
The No. 17 Bruins headed into the tournament with aspirations of claiming overall victory. However, considering the failure of No. 7 Central Florida – which finished seventh and failed to advance – UCLA was just happy to have prolonged its season.
“Obviously our main goal was just to make it through so we are really pleased with doing that,” Freeman said. “We played one of the best back nines of the tournament and while other teams fell away we moved to within a couple of shots of second place.”
Chan ended the tournament with a share of 19th at 218 (+2), while UCLA’s other starters, juniors Preston Valder and Matt Pinizzotto, claimed a share of 25th and 52nd places respectively.
UCLA will join five other Pac-12 teams at the NCAA national championships, including No. 2 Stanford and No. 5 California, and the team has high hopes for the competition that begins on Friday in Hutchinson, Kan.
“We expect to win,” Garrick said. “We played the course in the fall so we know exactly what to expect.”
“With a few days practicing in those conditions we know we can keep the momentum we have built and be ready to chase down a victory.”