Women’s golf misses out on tying school record
By Rebecca Lee
April 6, 2009 10:41 p.m.
“We just didn’t play well,” coach Carrie Forsyth said. “Everybody was a little off, we just didn’t do the little things very well. It just wasn’t a good week for us.”
The Bruins posted 300 (+12) in the final round Sunday, which sunk any hopes of a top finish.
No. 5 Oklahoma State nabbed the tournament victory with 881 (+17), routing the rest of the field in the final round with a team score of 289 (+1). No. 9 Purdue finished in second-place behind Oklahoma State by only one stroke. No. 1 Arizona State and No. 3 USC finished in third and fourth with scores of 886 (+22) and 891 (+27), respectively. With a team score of 893 (+29), No. 29 New Mexico rounded out the top-five finishers in the tournament, beating the Bruins by four strokes.
UCLA was playing without All-American senior captain Tiffany Joh, who played as an amateur in the Kraft Nabisco Championship at Mission Hills Country Club in Palm Springs.
“Obviously, she’s one of our top players,” Forsyth said. “It’s great that she had the opportunity to play for Nabisco, and she played great there. We’re really happy for her that she had that chance. But definitely it would have been good to have her in the lineup.”
Freshman Stephanie Kono said that UCLA should have a strong team with any combination of its players.
“It would have helped with (Joh) on the team, but we should have played better with our five,” Kono said.
Joh tied for 21st with a score of 290 (+2) after posting a final round of 71 (-1) at the Kraft Nabisco tournament, the LPGA’s first major of the year. She also tied for low amateur honors.
Leading the Bruins back in Arizona was sophomore Glory Yang, whose tournament overall score 223 (+7) landed her in a four-way tie for 11th place. She finished at 76 (+4) in the final round.
“I’m really happy for Glory,” Forsyth said. “She played well ““ the only unfortunate thing was that her last three holes she did not finish well.”
Yang was at even-par going after finishing the 15th hole in the final round but posted two bogeys and a double bogey in the remaining three holes.
“That was kind of tough,” Forsyth said. “She would have had a really good finish had she not done that. But all in all, very solid. (I’m) very pleased with her performance.”
Kono, who tied for 15th, finished one stroke behind Yang after posting a 74 (+2) in the final round. Senior Ryann O’Toole recorded 226 (+10) overall, tying for 23rd, and sophomore Maria Jose Uribe tied for 33rd with a 228 (+12). Junior Sydnee Michaels tied for 43rd after posting a final score of 231 (+15). Freshman Brianna Do, who competed individually, finished tying for 82nd with a 245 (+29).
The improved putting that brought the Bruins victories in the last two tournaments was absent during this tournament.
“Our confidence level was pretty low in putting this week, for me especially,” Kono said. “On any green you need to putt with confidence to putt well, and I didn’t have (it).”
“We weren’t making putts, we weren’t getting good chips, we were missing greens ““ it’s a combination of all those things,” Forsyth said. “We’ve got to work harder, we’ve got to sharpen up before the postseason comes.”
The Bruins might have a chance to redeem themselves at the Karsten Golf Course if they stay in the Western Region for the postseason. The Tempe course hosts the NCAA Regional Tournament.
“It’s a good course ““ it’s a fair course,” Forsyth said. “But if you’re not sharp, you’re going to struggle out there. It was a tough course, it wasn’t easy, but we just didn’t play well on it ““ that was the problem.”
