No matter how slowly the UCLA women’s golf team has
started each round of its two postseason tournaments this year, the
Bruins have always made up the difference on the back nine.
On Wednesday, however, UCLA’s frigid start carried over
until the team’s final hole.
Faced with a second consecutive wet and dreary day at the NCAA
Championships on the Meadows Course at Sunriver Resort in Redmond,
Ore., the Bruins, along with the rest of the 24-team field, saw
their scores skyrocket amid the nasty weather conditions.
Second-ranked UCLA posted a disappointing team-total of 18-over
par in the second round. But at the halfway point in the 72-hole
event, the team is within striking distance in third place at
22-over par, four shots behind current leaders Pepperdine and
Auburn.
“It was brutal conditions out there,” UCLA coach
Carrie Forsyth said. “On a day like today, I looked at it as
an opportunity.
“If you hold it together for 18 holes, you can move way
up. We didn’t really do that today.”
Since last February when the Bruins began their remarkable run
of winning 10 of their last 12 tournaments, there have been certain
things that Forsyth has come to expect of them after each and every
round.
Among those expectations are that UCLA will rack up a lot of
birdies, have three players at or below par, and have at least one
stretch of golf in which it will make a move up the
leaderboard.
Gusty winds and heavy rain through the first eight holes made it
difficult for the team to meet those expectations.
The Bruins, who navigated their way around the Meadows Course on
Tuesday without recording anything worse than a bogey, seemed to
find most of the tree-lined course’s pitfalls on Wednesday,
recording an unusually low four birdies while posting six scores of
double bogey or worse.
While senior leader Charlotte Mayorkas continued her steady play
with a 2-over par 73 to earn a share of the individual lead, the
rest of the UCLA team struggled to overcome the problems brought on
by the blustery weather.
“It’s just been rough so far,” said junior
Hannah Jun, who finished at 3-over par Wednesday.
“I fought for that score.
“With these conditions, you’re going to expect that
scores are going to be really high.”
But even though not a single Bruin was able to find her rhythm
on the Meadows Course Wednesday, UCLA is still in good position
entering today’s third round.
Top-ranked Duke, the favorite heading into the tournament, is
five strokes behind the Bruins at 27-over par, and first-round
leader USC is in an even worse position at 31-over par.
“We’ll be ready to go,” Jun said. “Even
though we haven’t shot the rounds we have wanted to yet,
hopefully we’ll play a good round tomorrow and grab the
lead.”