Hailing from Stockport, England, sophomore Bronte Law has already made significant strides in the UCLA women’s golf program in just her second season.
Despite the possible difficulties of a cross-continental transition, Law has emerged as one of the team’s most reliable players in her current sophomore campaign.
She attained only one victory and three top-10 finishes in her freshman season. This season, she’s already won two tournaments and captured four top-10 finishes, with five tournaments remaining on the schedule.
“The level of bravery it takes to come across the world to go to college and compete is immense,” said coach Carrie Forsyth. “She’s really just embraced living in California and being at UCLA, and I’ve never seen anyone handle the transition as well as she has.”
Law has won the Pac-12 Women’s Golfer of the Month award twice this season, in October and February, and according to Golfweek magazine, she is presently the No. 4 women’s collegiate golfer in the country.
In 21 rounds, Law has recorded 1509 strokes and is even-par on the entire season.
“I think (Law) brings a lot of resilience and dominance on the golf course,” said senior Erynne Lee. “She has a very stubborn attitude which is good for golf because she never gives up and she’s a fighter.”
Despite the absence of sophomore Alison Lee, who was the team’s lowest scorer prior to her departure to the LPGA in December, Law’s drive for winning has helped the Bruins stay in contention this season.
She currently leads the team with 10 strokes under par, five rounds under 70 strokes and a scoring average of 71.9. Her team-leading performances thus far have kept the Bruins in fourth place, within the top five in Division I rankings.
“Without Alison, we definitely needed everybody to step up and in some ways, (Law) has certainly led that charge,” Forsyth said. “Her play has been vital to us because we’re still ranked well, we’re doing well in our tournaments, and when Alison left, it gave our players an opportunity to step up and Bronte has stood out with her wins and strong finishes.”
But despite all the accolades, the focus remains solely on playoff excellence in the coming months.
“Right now, a successful season would be to win Pac-12s or at least being competitive, because then we can walk away and say we exceeded expectations as a team,” Law said. “I haven’t really been trying to get ahead of myself, my focus is on the now and doing the best I can this season. So in terms of what the future holds, it’s not something I have to worry about.”