By taking a casual glance at the UCLA women’s golf
team’s stats at the NCAA West Regional, it would appear that
there had to be something wrong with the top-seeded Bruins. Of the
15 completed rounds by UCLA’s five golfers, only one round,
junior Susie Mathews’ 69 on Saturday, was under-par. Of the
108 players in the field, not a single Bruin finished better than
10th. Of UCLA’s 10 tournaments this season, the Bruins’
54-hole total of 25-over par was the team’s highest. And with
the NCAA Championships on the horizon next week, such a performance
would seemingly be cause for concern ““ except for the fact
that UCLA still won. It may have been ugly and especially trying,
but the top-seeded Bruins found yet another way to come away from
the golf course victorious, navigating their way through the
blustery conditions of New Mexico State University Golf Course in
Las Cruces, N.M. better than anyone else in the 21-team field.
Battling strong winds and its own inexperience on the University
Golf Course, UCLA once again proved it’s ready to defend its
national title, claiming its fifth consecutive postseason
tournament victory. “It was a great comeback for our
team,” UCLA women’s golf coach Carrie Forsyth said.
“I’m really proud of this team and the way that it
fought back to win under really tough conditions.” By virtue
of winning the tiebreaker over Tennessee, who also finished at
25-over par, UCLA earned one of the three available top seeds for
next week’s NCAA Championships to be held at the Sunriver
Resort in Redmond, Ore. starting on May 17. Yet solidifying a top
seed, let alone qualifying for the chance to compete for the
national title, was anything but a sure lock after the first round
of the regionals. In 10th place after the tournament’s
opening round, and knowing that only the top-eight finishers
advance to the championship, UCLA responded as only a champion can.
The Bruins posted the best team-scores in the second and third
rounds, including a tournament-best 2-under par on Saturday, and
erased all of a 13-shot opening-round deficit to Tennessee to catch
the Volunteers on the tournament’s final day. And it was
Mathews, who was 12-over par after two rounds and the
lowest-ranking Bruin coming into Saturday’s third round, who
sparked UCLA’s comeback. After carding a very disappointing
7-over par 79 on Friday, the Australian native trimmed 10 shots off
of her round Saturday, reeling off four birdies in her last seven
holes to shoot a tournament-best 3-under par 69. Mathews
wasn’t alone in saving her best for last, as senior Charlotte
Mayorkas (even-par), sophomore Hannah Jun (even-par), and freshman
Amie Cochran (1-over par) each equaled or bested any of their
previous rounds on the tournament’s final day.
FRINGE FACTS: The winners of each of the three regionals earned
the top seeds for next week’s NCAA Championships. The Bruins
will be paired with Ohio State, winner of the NCAA East Regional,
and Auburn, winner of the NCAA Central Regional, for the first two
rounds of the championship. … After going 6-over par in her first
round, Mayorkas went 1-over par for the remaining 36 holes of the
tournament, just missing a top-10 finish by placing in 11th. …
With her 10th place finish, Cochran is the second straight Bruin
freshman to be UCLA’s highest finisher at the NCAA West
Regional. Last season, sophomore Hannah Jun was the individual
champion at the regional.