Sitting in the driver’s seat at the NCAA Regionals after the first two rounds, the Bruins got passed up.
No. 4 UCLA finished in second place, two strokes behind South Carolina, in the regionals at Karsten Golf Course in Tempe, Ariz. With an overall score of 822, 42-under par and a second-place finish, the Bruins earned a fifth straight NCAA berth, but were not satisfied.
“We’re really disappointed that we didn’t win the event,” coach O.D. Vincent said.
UCLA began the tournament well, sitting in first place after the first and second rounds. However, just as in each of the past four tournaments, the team was not able to finish the tournament in the top spot.
The 11th seed of the tournament, South Carolina, had not won a tournament all year long. The Gamecocks finished 44-under par, setting a new course record and a school record.
“(South Carolina) played exceptionally well; their highest performance all year was fourth place,” Vincent said. “This shows that there are a lot of great teams out there.”
The main competition for the Bruins all year has been crosstown rival USC; however, at the regionals the Trojans did not play a challenging role.
USC, which was seeded fourth at the tournament, finished tied for third with Arizona State with an overall score of 824, 40-under par.
The No. 1 seed at the regional, Stanford, finished 33-under par in seventh place.
The winner of the individual event was Sun Devil Benjamin Alvarado Holley. He finished the tournament with an overall score of 198, 18-under par.
Holley was followed by UCLA junior Kevin Chappell, Vanderbilt’s Jon Curran and USC’s Jamie Lovemark. The three of them tied for second place by firing 15-under par in three rounds, each accumulating a total of 201.
“The way (Chappell) plays is that he hopes to win every time,” Vincent said.
Chappell began the tournament well, hitting 6-under par with an eagle and four birdies. He followed up this performance with 4- and 5-under par in the subsequent rounds.
Chappell’s tournament is indicative of the team’s overall performance. Each of the individual golfers started out hitting birdies one after another, but could not keep up the momentum through the third round.
Sophomore Erik Flores began the tournament firing 8-under par, getting an eagle and six birdies in the first round. This was a new personal best for Flores, playing at a level that Vincent was hoping to see from him all season.
However, again he was not able to keep his performance at a steady level, scoring 2-over par in the third round and finishing the tournament tied for 23rd place.
Bruin sophomore Lucas Lee tied for 36th place, scoring 7-under par, followed by junior Daniel Im and freshman Jason Kang, who finished at 5-under par tied for the 43rd spot.
For the Bruins to have a chance of bringing home the title, consistency will be the focus in each round of the tournament at the NCAA Championships.
“We know we can play with anyone,” Vincent said. “We need to prove to ourselves we can win.”