In his first two years at UCLA, men’s golf coach O.D.
Vincent has stood beside the 18th green in the final round of the
NCAA Championships, watching his Bruins come just short of claiming
a national title.
This year, however, he’s “95 percent sure” he
won’t even get to watch the final round.
That’s because after UCLA’s 21-over par total in
Thursday’s second round of the championship at Caves Valley
Golf Club near Baltimore, Md., the Bruins are almost guaranteed of
not qualifying for Saturday’s final round after a 15-team cut
is implemented after today’s third round.
“There’s no excuse to play as poorly as we
have,” Vincent said. “We are absolutely stinking the
place up right now.”
At a collective total of 40-over par through the
tournament’s halfway point, the 13th-ranked Bruins currently
sit in last place in the 30-team field, having lost all contact
with the tournament-leader Georgia sometime between the time they
teed off Thursday and the time they finished their rounds.
To even have a chance of simply making the cut and extending
their season for a final round, UCLA will need to make up 19 shots
just to catch the 15th-place team on Friday, a scenario that
Vincent and his Bruins feel is pretty unrealistic at this
point.
“I would like to see us go out and play well tomorrow, but
odds are definitely that we won’t make the cut,” said
sophomore Chris Heintz.
“We’re just not getting any love. Maybe this course
has our number.”
For the first two days, it certainly has.
Caves Valley’s par-70, 7,131-yard layout, known for its
imposing length, certainly appears to have baffled and frustrated
UCLA at the NCAA Championships.
Through two rounds, not a single Bruin has carded a round lower
than a 73, let alone made any sort of run into red figures.
And at 8-over par and in a tie for 84th place, Heintz is
UCLA’s highest finisher thus far, not exactly a distinguished
honor, given the team’s performance.
“There’s no running and hiding on this golf
course,” Vincent said. “It will expose your weaknesses,
and we’ve had plenty of them.”
Even more frustrating for the Bruins than staring up at 29 other
teams has been their inability to come up with an explanation as to
why they reserved their worst performance of the year for the most
inopportune time.
UCLA entered the championship on the heels of a very strong
final round at the NCAA West Regional, but any momentum the Bruins
may have generated from that event was lost on the plane ride from
Los Angeles to Baltimore.
And though the effort has undoubtedly been there through two
rounds, the scores have not, making for a very frustrating and
humbling experience for Vincent and his players.
“I’m watching them give it their all and absolutely
getting nothing out of it,” Vincent said.
“Golf is a funny sport in that sometimes there are
explanations, and sometimes there aren’t. At this point, I
can’t pinpoint it,” he added.
So while making the cut, much less contending for the title, are
no longer concerns for Vincent, the coach still sees a few
redeeming factors today’s third round can hold for his
team.
Vincent is stressing to his players to enjoy what will most
likely be their final round together, but imploring them to
remember what it feels like to be the last name on the leaderboard
as motivation for years to come.
“I hope they never forget how bad it hurts to be in the
position they’re in,” Vincent said.
“Then I hope they will get to experience how good it feels
when they win this thing one day,” he said.
As for this year’s championship, however, there’s
really only one more thing left for the Bruins to play for.
“We don’t want to finish last,” Vincent said.
“So we better beat someone out there today.”