Thursday, April 25, 1996
Two stellar rounds not enough to pull out conference titleBy
Christopher Isidro
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
It may be ranked No. 1 in the nation, but the UCLA women’s golf
team will have to settle for second-best in the conference.
The Bruins put together the lowest round of the final day of
competition on Wednesday, but it wasn’t enough as Arizona State
edged UCLA by a single stroke at the Pacific 10 Championships in
Tucson, Ariz.
However, it was enough to overtake host-Arizona, which withered
on the final day, giving up 19 strokes to the Bruins, and Stanford,
which also struggled on Wednesday.
Junior Jeong-Min Park fired her second consecutive round of 70
while Amandine Vincent and Jenny Park threw in 1-under-par 71s on a
day the field wilted in the 92-degree heat. As a team, the Bruins
shot a 2-under-par 286 to finish with a three-day total of 876.
Wednesday’s stellar performance was not quite good enough to
overcome a rough UCLA start. The par-72 Raven Golf Club, playing at
just over 6,000 yards this week, clawed into the Bruins in Monday’s
opening round. Two UCLA golfers failed to break 80, helping the
top-ranked Bruins to a 302 and a fifth place standing, 15 strokes
behind the leaders.
Vincent kept UCLA afloat with a 73 on her way to a 222 for the
tournament and a tie for ninth place. Jenny Park also pitched in a
73 and would eventually finish tied for 14th, two strokes behind
Vincent.
The second day saw the Bruins return to contention. The mercury
jumped 10 degrees on Tuesday, possibly because of the round that
Eunice Choi put together. The UCLA junior rebounded from an
opening-day 81 to string the tournament’s low round, a
five-under-par 67, on her way to a ninth-place finish herself.
Jeong-Min Park shot the first of two 70s on Tuesday. She would
finish off the week with a 1-under-par 215, one stroke off medalist
Maria Baena of Arizona.
Kathy Choi also pitched in a second-round 73, but the Bruins
were unable to mount a serious charge as they were saddled with a
78, giving them an even-par 288 on a day several UCLA golfers
scorched the course.
UCLA’s runner-up finish is the fourth time it has placed second
this season. After starting off the year with four straight wins,
the Bruins have been in a sort of slump, going winless in their
last five events but finishing no worse than fourth.
The next tournament for UCLA is the NCAA Regionals in Lincoln,
Neb. in mid-May.