UCLA men’s golf posts top-20 finishes at Anteater Invitational
By Richard Kaumeyer
Jan. 29, 2014 12:25 a.m.
The Anteater Invitational was a tournament of beginnings
for the UCLA men’s golf team after a long break from competition.
The three Bruins in the tournament came out of the gate slow, showing a bit of rust during their two rounds on Monday. Junior Kyle Pollema was 7-over, junior Preston Valder was 4-over and senior Anton Arboleda was 8-over after the first two rounds.
But Pollema, Valder and Arboleda bounced back in the final round on Tuesday to all finish the tournament in the top 20.
Arboleda attributed his slow start to the long break but still was happy to be playing competitively again.
“(I) definitely felt a little bit of rust the first two rounds,” Arboleda said. “It took me a little longer than I would have liked it to, getting the competitive juices flowing (and) getting back into scoring mode, but it felt good to be out there again.”
On Tuesday, the second and final day of the tournament, the Bruins played better and were all able to finish in the top 20 by the time the tournament was over. Arboleda shot the low round of the day, a 3-under to finish in 10th place. Valder fell two spots but still finished tied for 11th, and Pollema was able to move up eight spots and finished tied for 15th.
Coach Derek Freeman admitted the players had a slow start but was not worried because it is still very early in the season.
“They came out of the gate slow. I felt we did not play that well yesterday overall as a group; there were some good things but some guys were struggling early to find out some ways to score,” Freeman said. “Golf is best served when you play in competition, and these guys weren’t quite ready. It’s the first week, not a big deal, we need to find the areas of weakness, improve upon them and get better.”
The tournament not only kicked off the winter and spring season for the Bruins, but it also began a new Bruin golf career. Pollema, a junior transfer, played his first tournament as a Bruin after walking on to the team.
“I had no more nerves than the usual tournament butterflies,” Pollema said. “I was anxious to play, it was a great experience and I hope to do it more in the next few years.”
