Last year, after a second-place finish at the Pac-10 tournament, the UCLA women’s golf team felt lucky to have earned a No. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament’s East Regional, despite being ranked 11th nationally going into the tournament.
This year, after another second-place finish in the Pac-10, the Bruins have a chip on their shoulder.
No. 2 UCLA surrendered its top spot and a chance to play in the West Regional to USC when it faltered against the Trojans at the Pac-10 tournament, held at the Palos Verdes Golf Club two weeks ago.
The Bruins will look to win back their top rank when they play 54 holes at the University of Texas Golf Club in Austin as the No. 1 seed in the Central Region this week.
This tournament marks the second straight season that UCLA will play outside of the West Region and only the second time since the regional format was established in 1993.
Coach Carrie Forsyth feels that competing in the Central Region will benefit the team, rather than hinder it.
“It’s completely advantageous, because this course is a lot like the course we’re going to play at the national championships,” she said. “I definitely don’t see any disadvantage to being here; I’m actually glad we’re here.”
However, the players will have to adjust to the windy conditions and the firm greens of the Texan golf course.
“It’s a little different from when we played in Palos Verdes, where the greens are pretty soft,” Forsyth said. “It’s a different strategy we have to use when the greens are firm and fast, but I think it’s a good preparation for the national championship in Albuquerque, where the greens are going to be like this.”
Reading the greens accurately will be crucial if the Bruins want to succeed. It was their inability to finish putts that cost them a Pac-10 championship at Palos Verdes.
“We did a lot of work the last week and a half,” Forsyth said. “Everyone worked hard on their putting. We spent a lot more time on rolling putts versus just sitting on the green hitting putts over and over again. We spend a little bit more time on our stroke and roll and pretty much things we didn’t do at Pac-10. We’ve seen a lot of improvements there.”
This week, UCLA will have to face a tough competitor in No. 6 Purdue, which is coming off a Big Ten Championship title, where junior Maria Hernandez won Big Ten medalist honors.
The Bruins will not have to play top-ranked USC, which routed them at the Pac-10, or third-ranked Duke, which has spent the season nipping at the Bruins’ heels to take their spot in rankings. USC and Duke have secured the No. 1 spot in the West and East Regionals, held at the Lincoln Hill Golf Club and the UGA Gold Course in Athens, Ga., respectively.
The Bruins still want their No. 1 spot back, which would require a stellar finish for the Bruins and a stumbling one for the Trojans.
“Only part of that is in our hands,” Forsyth said. “We have to focus on being here and doing well here.”
UCLA will feature the same lineup that played at the Pac-10, including Pac-10 Player of the Year Tiffany Joh, freshmen Glory Yang and Maria Uribe, junior Maiya Tanaka and sophomore Sydnee Michaels.
Last season, Michaels won her first collegiate title at the East Regional with a school record of 203 (-13) as a freshman. Joh tied for second place, scoring 206 (-10). The Bruins placed second overall with a total score of 846 (-18) behind Duke, which finished with 844 (-20).
This week, the Bruins will look to be one of the top eight teams and advance to the NCAA Championship tournament, hosted by the University of New Mexico on May 20-23. If they can do that, then they’ll be able to worry about winning it all.
“It’s all here,” Forsyth said. “We’re ready to go.”