The crosstown rivalry between UCLA and USC may be alive and well each time the storied enemies face each other in any competition, but not so much for the men’s golf team.
“I don’t know that we make this one more special than any other event. If it was a head-to-head match, it might be different,” coach Derek Freeman said. “We’re just trying to play to our capabilities, make smart decisions and do the best we can.”
And coming off of a first-place finish at the Battle at the Beach, where they made plenty of smart decisions, members of the No. 8 UCLA men’s golf team will look to build on that win over the next two days at the USC Invitational, staged at North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village.
The Bruins will stick with mostly the same lineup that helped them to their first trophy of the year. Sophomores Alex Shi Yup Kim and Gregor Main and junior Connor Driscoll will be joined by freshmen Pontus Widegren and Pedro Figueiredo. Freeman hopes that this lineup will lead the Bruins to another first-place finish but admits that there’s always a certain level of uncertainty around any lineup.
“Only time will tell if this is our best lineup,” Freeman said. “This week, that’s our best lineup. I feel comfortable with every single player, but you just never know what will happen.”
The 14-team field will feature several other Pac-10 schools ranked in the top 25 including California, Oregon, Oregon State, Arizona State, Stanford, and USC. Stanford is undoubtedly the most promising team in the tournament, currently No. 2 in the national polls.
Main, who took third individually at last year’s USC Invitational, is very familiar with USC’s team but insists that it’s all business once he tees it up.
“It always feels good to beat USC, and we’ll probably be playing with them so there’s a little extra something there,” Main said. “I’m really good friends with all of the guys on their team so it’s fun, but when we’re on the golf course, I want to beat them.”
The tournament features an unusual format with only two rounds of 18 holes being played today and the final 18-hole round being played tomorrow. Main doesn’t think that 36 holes being played all on the first day will hinder his team’s scores in any way.
“I think it’s an advantage because we’re a pretty fit team, so the 36 holes is good for us because if we get on a roll, we can keep it going,” Main said.
In their first win of the season at the Battle at the Beach, the Bruins battled their way to shooting seven under par the final day to take the trophy.
This young Bruin squad has shown a lot of promise in the early stages of the spring season, jumping out to first-round leads in two of its first four tournaments. The Bruins would eventually fall out to fourth and eighth, respectively, in those tournaments.
Freeman said that the youth of his team could be a factor in giving away those early leads.
“The one thing that I keep telling our guys is that we’ve had a chance to win every single event. We’ve got the ingredients, and that variability (in scores) basically comes from our youth,” Freeman said.