During the course of any golf tournament lasting at least three
rounds, collegiate teams can expect to hit a lull.
The UCLA women’s golf team is hoping it got its bad round
out of the way Thursday and is looking forward to bluer skies and
greener pastures for the remainder of the NCAA West Regional at
Karsten Golf Course in Tempe, Ariz.
After the first round of the regional, the Bruins find
themselves a disappointing 10-over par tied with UNLV for sixth
place and trailing the likes of lower-seeded Arizona State and
Washington State.
“I don’t think we played very well today,”
head coach Carrie Leary said. “(The conditions) were nice out
there today. It was definitely a scoreable day, and that’s
why I think we’re a little more disappointed.”
Crosstown rival USC raced out to an incredible first round on
Thursday, shooting a collective nine-under par. The Trojans are
nine shots ahead of the second-place Oklahoma State Cowgirls.
In one of the lone bright spots for the Bruins, sophomore
Charlotte Mayorkas continues to treat Karsten as her own personal
playground.
Mayorkas’ two-under 70 placed her in a tie for fifth on
the leaderboard, and represented UCLA’s only sub-par round.
UNLV’s Sunny Oh and USC’s Mikaela Parmlid are the
first-round leaders in the clubhouse with five-under par 67s.
Mayorkas did not receive much help from her fellow teammates on
Thursday. After Mayorkas, the closest ranking Bruin was junior Gina
Umeck, who is tied for 28th place at three-over par. Freshman Susie
Mathews finished the first round with a four-over par 76 and is
currently tied for 37th place heading into Tuesday’s second
round. Juniors Hana Kim and Melissa Martin finished in a tie
for 50th and 78th respectively.
“I felt today that we were playing a little more scorecard
golf, in that we were worrying about how we stood, and worrying
about what other teams were going to shoot,” Leary said.
Because only the top eight teams make it to the NCAA
Championships, the Bruins find themselves closer to the cut line
than they would like.
“We’re looking forward to playing better tomorrow
and moving up the leaderboard,” Leary said. “You
don’t want to squeak into nationals. You want to play well.
You want to come in as hot as you can. That’s our
goal.”