The La Quinta Resort Mountain Course is supposed to be one of
the premiere golf courses out there. UCLA was one of 18 men’s
college golf teams from across the country given the opportunity to
play at the course in The Prestige at PGA WEST.
“This was another great event,” Stanford head coach
Jeff Mitchell told ucdavisaggies.com. “It’s just a
superior event at a great location, a great course.”
The Bruins finished fourth with a 13-over par 877, 24 strokes
behind Texas Christian University, the winner of the event. While
24 strokes behind the leader may seem like a lot, the Horned Frogs
finished far ahead of everyone, not just the Bruins. They shot an
853 (-11) and finished 15 strokes ahead of second-place UC
Irvine.
“We played exceptionally well over the last two rounds,
and I am really proud of the guys,” TCU head coach Bill
Montigel said in a statement.
Going into the last round of the tournament, it was basically a
four-way race for second place between UC Irvine, Pepperdine, UCLA
and Vanderbilt, who were all within one stroke of another. After
shooting a 292 and a 293 in the first two rounds, the Bruins stayed
consistent and shot a 292 in the final round. However, UC Irvine
and Pepperdine both had much better rounds than their first two and
finished well ahead of the Bruins. The Anteaters shot a 286 in the
final round, finishing at 868 (+4), and the Waves shot a 288,
finishing with an 873 (+9)
Vanderbilt shot a 294 in the last round, finishing with an 880
(+16), five strokes behind the Bruins.
Individually, freshman Spencer Levin tied for ninth place
overall with a 215 (-1). It was his third top 10 finish in four
events.
UCLA senior Sang-Eun Ji had the best performance of his career.
He finished tied for 23rd with a 220 (+4).
Also for the Bruins, sophomore John Poucher and junior John
Merrick tied for 33rd with a 223 (+7). Junior Roy Moon tied for
39th place with a 224 (+8).
The Prestige at PGA WEST was the last preseason tournament on
the schedule for the Bruins before the regular season gets under
way in February. UCLA finished in the top five in all four of their
preseason tournaments.