The UCLA women’s golf team has quite a bit of work to do if it wants to live up to its preseason No. 1 ranking. Playing in their first tournament of the year this past weekend at the Vanderbilt Legends Club in Franklin, Tenn., the Bruins shot a relatively unspectacular 9-over par 885 to finish fourth overall.
No. 2 Duke won the Mason Rudolph Invitational with a team score of 878, beating Georgia by three strokes. Arkansas placed third overall with a score of 884.
“I definitely don’t feel we played our best,” said Coach Carrie Forsyth, whose last two Bruin teams finished first and second at the NCAA Championships.
“It was our first tournament of the year – everybody was a bit rusty,” added Junior Hannah Jun.
Still, the team did have several highlights over the course of the weekend. Freshman Ryann O’Toole had the team’s best individual round of the weekend, turning in a 2-under-par 70 on the tournament’s first day.
“I think that’s phenomenal for a freshman in her first college tournament,” said Forsyth.
O’Toole shot 79 and 74 on Saturday and Sunday, respectively to finish tied for 16th overall.
Jun led the team in individual scoring, shooting 72-74-74 to finish 4-over par. Her score of 220 was good enough to tie her for 8th overall in the tournament. Her performance might have been even better, but Jun double-bogeyed the last hole on Sunday.
Jun downplayed her rounds, calling her play “average,” and was frustrated with the team’s loss.
“There’s always stuff you leave on the table,” Jun said.
Sophomore Amie Cochran shot 72-75-77 to finish 8-over par, which placed her in a tie for 21st. Freshman Jane Park shot 77-71-77, which put her in a tie for 23rd, and senior Susie Mathews shot 76-75-75 and tied for 26th.
“Despite our result, I still feel like its something to build on,” Forsyth said. “Plus, all my players know that we are playing a long season.”
Expectations are high this year for the young Bruins, whose returning players have received numerous All-America accolades.
The team did lose All-American Charlotte Mayorkas to graduation, but boasts a strong freshman class led by Park, O’Toole and Tiffany Joh, all considered top recruits.
And while the Bruins realize teams are gunning for them, they don’t want to be too distracted by the hype surrounding their ranking.
“You still have to work for (a national title). It’s not just given to you because you’re ranked number one,” Jun said.
“I really don’t think it’s an issue,” said Forsyth. “The rankings don’t mean anything. You have to play, and we obviously didn’t play like a number one team last weekend.”