Wednesday, 2/26/97
UCLA finally up to par after rough start
Third place at Bruin Classic the second in series of high
finishes
By Chris Umpierre
Daily Bruin Contributor
After a rocky fall season, the UCLA women’s golf team has gained
some much-needed consistency by starting this quarter with two
consecutive top-five finishes.
The Bruins followed up their second-place finish in the
competitive Regional Challenge last week with a solid third-place
showing in the Pioneer Electronics/Bruin Classic tournament which
concluded Tuesday.
"They are gelling as a team," UCLA head coach Jackie Steinmann
said. "They will continue to get better as the year goes on."
Improving with each tournament, the Bruins turned in a solid
performance despite playing in wind gusts which Steinmann estimated
to be at 60 mph to 70 mph. The Bruins found out that playing in
wind makes for a much different golf game.
"It was extremely windy. That’s why the scores were so high,"
Steinmann said. "It was a good experience. You have to do different
things when you are playing in wind. You have to use the wind to
your advantage. But the team played well considering."
The wind didn’t seem to affect Sophie Sandolo that much as she
led the team once again in just her second collegiate tournament
after transferring to UCLA from France.
Sandolo followed up her fourth place finish in the Regional
Challenge with a third-place finish in this tournament. She
averaged a 78 on the par 72 Menifee Lakes course. Junior Amandine
Vincent also turned in an excellent performance as she finished in
a tie for third place with Sandolo.