W. golf: Women’s golf leads pack after 1st round

Last year, as a high school senior, Amie Cochran stood idly by
the 18th green at Palos Verdes Golf Club, watching her future UCLA
teammates decimate the competition en route to their championship
run.

“I’d do anything to be out there right now,”
she said a year ago.

Now, UCLA’s prized freshman is out there and an integral
part of the defending national champions’ success.

The title defense officially commenced Monday as the No. 2 UCLA
women’s golf team kicked off its spring schedule at the
Regional Challenge in Palos Verdes. After one round of play, the
Bruins shot a collective 5-over par and hold a four-shot lead over
rival No. 1 Duke entering today’s second round.

“We played very well on our first nine holes, and the team
looked awesome,” UCLA coach Carrie Forsyth said. “I was
really pleased with what I saw.”

While for the returning core of the team ““ Charlotte
Mayorkas, Susie Mathews and Hannah Jun ““ Monday was just the
first leg in another march toward a second consecutive
championship, for Cochran it was the first time toting a blue and
gold golf bag around the links.

Widely considered the No. 2 recruit in the Class of 2004,
Cochran lived up to expectations early, birdeying her first two
holes on her way to shooting a 3-under 32 on the front nine. But
her stay in red figures was short-lived, as the freshman committed
some mental mistakes on the back nine and stumbled coming into the
clubhouse with three bogeys and a triple-bogey in her last six
holes to finish at 3-over par.

“I expect those mistakes to happen,” Forsyth said.
“But it’s fun to see her out there. She’s such a
great player. She could have shot 65 today.”

While Cochran may have shown some freshman nerves, it was
Mathews and Jun who enabled the Bruins to grab the early lead.
Mathews carded five birdies against two bogeys and a double bogey
in Monday’s first round to shoot a 1-under par 71, which
places her in a tie for second entering today’s second round.
Meanwhile, Jun opened up her round with three birdies, only to give
it all back to the course with three bogeys to finish at even-par
for the day and in a tie for third.

Mayorkas, last year’s Pac-10 Player of the Year, shot a
3-over par 74.

With two more rounds still to play, the Bruins are hoping to
duplicate the feat they accomplished last year at Palos Verdes,
when they smothered their opponents and won by 32 shots.

“We need to win by a lot,” Forsyth said. “If
we don’t do that, then we need to get better.”