UCLA men’s golf underperforms at Insperity Augusta State Invitational in Georgia
Men’s Golf
Oklahoma State 1st 848(-16)
Tennessee 2nd 849(-15)
Clemson 3rd 859 (-5)
Alabama 4th 863 (-1)
UCLA 6th 866 (+2)
By Manny Redruello
April 4, 2011 1:08 a.m.
The UCLA men’s golf team entered this weekend with an opportunity to kill two birds with one stone ““ defeat last year’s national champion and this year’s current No. 1 team.
The Bruins failed to take advantage of it, finishing sixth in the field of 15 teams that included host and defending national champion No. 6 Augusta State as well as current No. 1 Oklahoma State.
“It was a pretty strong field this week, and unfortunately we didn’t really play that great,” sophomore Pontus Widegren said. “We kind of gave away a lot of shots the first day, and (the other teams) just kept their rounds going.”
No. 2 UCLA shot 866 (+2) over the weekend at the Insperity Augusta State Invitational at Forest Hills Golf Club in Augusta, Ga. Oklahoma State won the tournament with a three-round total of 848 (-16).
The Bruins played from behind nearly the entire tournament, making it close to impossible to come back after a rough start during Saturday’s first round.
Unable to take advantage of their opportunities early, the Bruins let the wind and Forest Hill’s tricky Bermuda greens get the better of them to start the tournament, posting a 296 (+12) for the round.
“It was definitely windy, and the Bermuda grass we’re not used to,” sophomore Pedro Figueiredo said. “So we definitely had to think about it before we stroke our putts, because it has a big effect on the ball’s direction.”
Although UCLA was able to recover, improving its score by 10 strokes in Saturday’s second round for a 286 (-2) and two more strokes on top of that for a 284 (-4) on Sunday, it was not enough.
Junior Gregor Main was the top finisher for the Bruins, finishing fifth individually with a three-round total of 211 (-5). The 14th hole proved to be Main’s downfall, as he recorded two double bogey’s in each of his first two rounds on the long par-four.
Also competing as Bruins were Widegren, junior Alex Shi Yup Kim, and freshmen Patrick Cantlay and Anton Arboleda.
Widegren finished in a tie for 18th with a score of 217 (+1) while Cantlay, the No. 1 individual golfer in the country, finished in a tie for 42nd with a score of 222 (+6), an uncharacteristically weak performance by his standards.
Arboleda finished in a tie for 45th place and Kim finished in a tie for 54th.
Although his score was ineligible to count toward the team total, Figueiredo played well and finished 12th with a score of 216 (E).
“I just did the same thing as always, because when you are helping the team you’re playing your own game as well,” Figueiredo said. “The difference is that my score didn’t count for the team, but everything I did was the same.”
Though the Bruins were unable to play as well as they had hoped, the trip will likely end on a good note, as they will be attending a practice round of the Masters tournament at Augusta National on Monday.
“As a golfer you have to love Augusta, it’s such a cool place,” Widegren said.
