Golfers’ first tourney results not quite up to par

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.”