Weird.
It can be the word used to describe the No. 1 UCLA women’s
golf team’s inauspicious start to the 2004-2005 season.
Coming into the Mason Rudolph Championship this past weekend,
the team’s superstar, senior Charlotte Mayorkas, was having
her share of struggles.
At the Fall Preview in Bend, Ore. a week ago, the Bruins
finished in seventh place, disappointing when considering it was
the team’s first true test as defending champions.
And yet, though each one of the players will admit they’re
not playing at the peak of their games right now, not a single one
of them will confess to being worried.
That’s because the road the team is traversing this year
is nearly identical to the one it came across last year, and
there’s no need to remind the players how that season ended:
with a national championship.
“It’s been really similar so far,” UCLA coach
Carrie Forsyth said. “We’re not peaking right now, but
it’s not our goal to peak in September. That doesn’t
mean anything. We want to save our best for last.”
With the finish line still miles ahead, UCLA concluded play at
the Mason Rudolph Championship in Franklin, Tenn. on Sunday,
claiming a second-place finish on The Legends Club, its highest
showing of the fall season.
UCLA was in nearly the identical situation it found itself in
2003 on the Tennessee course, entering the final round with a
seven-shot lead. But, just like last year, the Bruins forfeited the
lead, this time to chief rival Duke, and finished one stroke behind
their Blue Devil counterparts.
“It was painful, but it was a good lesson today,”
Forsyth said. “You can never count your chickens before they
hatch.”
UCLA’s final round of 9-over par was its worst round of
the tournament, but the team still boasted two of the top three
individual finishers in the event.
Junior Susie Mathews, who has never looked back after shining at
the 2004 NCAA Championships, posted a 1-under par total for the
tournament, finishing three shots behind medallist Jackie Beers of
Georgia.
Mayorkas, who was coming off of a disappointing tournament at
the Fall Preview, finished in a tie for third place at even-par
after posting rounds of 71, 71 and 74.
“(Mayorkas) has been struggling with pressure,”
Forsyth said. “To come back and play well is huge for
her.”
Sophomore Hannah Jun, the last returning starter from last
year’s championship squad, posted an even-par 72 in her final
round to finish the tournament in 16th place at 5-over par.