The UCLA women’s golf team heads to Hawaii to compete in the annual Pac-12 Preview at Nanea Golf Club on Monday.
The Bruins suffered a disappointing loss in their last competition, an outing at Stanford, losing by one stroke.
However, the team is optimistic – especially after having three players in the top-five standings at Stanford.
“We all felt good about the performances, but it doesn’t change anything heading into this tournament,” said junior Louise Ridderstrom. “We’re still working hard, and a new tournament is a new tournament.”
The Bruins will once again face off against USC and Stanford for the second straight tournament, and although revenge isn’t the theme for this week, the women said they will be looking to finish strong this time.
“Everyone wants to win here, and we’re definitely looking forward to competing with those teams,” said sophomore Bronte Law. “It’s always great golf when we play with them, so we just have to put ourselves in position to win on the last day.”
Although the competition will be tough, it isn’t the only obstacle the Bruins said they’ll face in this upcoming tournament.
“The course is great, but there are a lot of hills, so the players have to adjust to elevation changes, particularly on the back nine,” said coach Carrie Forsyth. “I think the wind, though, is probably the biggest challenge, so we have to hit knockdown shots and punches because hitting down big drops with heavy winds is very challenging.”
Such conditions are hard to replicate in Southern California, so the team has been preparing for a less-than-smooth tournament experience.
“It’s tough, especially when we don’t have windy conditions here, because all we can do is work on our specific shots and try to simulate them in practice, but luckily the girls are seasoned players, so it’s not like they’ve never played the wind before,” Forsyth said.
Despite the tough conditions that are to be expected, the women had plenty of time to prepare, as they went through a practice round during the weekend before performing on Monday.
Overall, the Bruins said they will look to finish and execute better on Monday, as they will hit a hiatus until February.
“It’s important for us to win … and I’m not too worried about the team getting too excited about planning ahead,” Forsyth said. “I think everyone is hungry and I think they’ve got a lot of emotion and energy heading into the tournament.”