Although UCLA women’s golf is ranked ninth nationally in Golfstat and 11th in Golfweek, the Bruins were seeded second in the NCAA East Regional to be held in Louisiana this week.
“I’m not really sure what made them determine that we would be the second seed in the East,” coach Carrie Forsyth said. “But then again, the way that they split the teams up is kind of complex and convoluted anyway. It’s hard to explain.”
This is the first time the Bruins will be participating in the East since the regional format was created in 1993. Their trip comes right after the Bruins finished second in the Pac-10 Championship with sophomore Tiffany Joh grabbing the individual title.
“It’s obviously a big confidence booster, not just for me, but for the entire team and the entire program,” Joh said. “I have a lot of confidence in my teammates going into the regional.”
Throughout the season Forsyth has concentrated on preparing Joh mentally for the match. Recently the results have been stellar.
“She may have a different vision of herself and what she can do now,” Forsyth said. “Any time you win a major tournament like Pac-10, especially in a style that she won it ““ go into the playoff and beat the No. 2 ranked player in the country head-to-head, all day long playing with her, and then go head-to-head in the playoff ““ I think that you believe in yourself.”
Beating one of the best collegiate golfers might be just the preparation needed for Joh, since she is going to be facing the best golfer in the country at the regional on Thursday. The UCLA team will be paired with the second-ranked Duke and SEC champion Auburn.
“They have established themselves as the “˜powerhouse,’ and (Duke’s) Amanda Blumenherst is actually No. 1 individually in the country,” Joh said. “That would be really interesting. … It would be really fun to get to compete against people who have already established themselves as good players.”
Besides competing against good players, the Bruins are also going to be facing the time and climate change once they land in Louisiana.
“We’re actually glad we’re going to the East,” Forsyth said. “The next NCAA Championship is in the East; it’s in Florida. So the grass conditions are similar, the weather conditions are similar. So it’s kind of a nice way to get acclimated to the conditions that we’re going to be playing in a couple of weeks.”
The Bruin golf team has experienced different levels of success this year. But since the beginning of the playoffs the level of success has gone up with the level of intensity.
“I think we’ve moved a long way in the right direction, so I think we’re going to play well,” Forsyth said. “I’d love to win. I don’t know if we will, but I’d love to see us back in the contention just more than anything.”