Women’s golf to tee off season at Arizona tournament after 10-month hiatus
Junior Simar Singh is one of five Bruins making the trip to Arizona as UCLA women’s golf prepares for The Match in the Desert, its first tournament of the season. (Courtesy of UCLA Athletics)
By Jay Fenn
Jan. 24, 2021 10:18 a.m.
The Bruins will make their return to the course this weekend after a 10-month hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
UCLA women’s golf will be competing in The Match in the Desert, which runs from Sunday to Monday and includes Arizona State, Denver and Arizona.
The Bruins had five top-four finishes last year before the season was put on hold in March, and coach Carrie Forsyth said the team is looking forward to getting back into competition.
“We are really excited to have the opportunity to compete again,” Forsyth said. “I kind of look at this event as a way to mount some rust off and get back into the competitive mode.”
Although they are excited to get back out on the green, junior Simar Singh said the Bruins know it has been a while since they have all been on the course together and understand it may take some time to get back into the swing of things.
“I just want to get back in the flow of playing a competitive golf round,” Singh said. “I just want to get more comfortable being back out in a competitive setting and preparing for the rest of the season.”
However, while athletes of some sports may have found it difficult to practice safely during the pandemic, golf is a sport in which one can practice and compete while also following COVID-19 safety guidelines.
Singh said she and many of her teammates have found ways to continue playing golf safely during the pandemic, whether that be playing for national teams or at local courses. Both the Oregon transfer and her coach said these challenging times have shown the Bruins how much they appreciate the opportunity they have to play the sport they love as many others cannot.
“It’s very different, the ordeal of what we have to do to practice and travel as a team,” Forsyth said. “The things on the side are just more distractions and little challenges that we need to face.”
There is a wide array of potential challenges that the team is facing this weekend. It has had one week to practice together before the tournament and will be taking a bus to the tournament – instead of flying like it normally does – in an attempt to reduce the players’ and coaches’ risk of catching the virus.
“We are just trying to piece (the starting lineup) together,” Forsyth said. “We have a couple (of) girls who were unable to make it to UCLA (because of COVID-19 safety guidelines).”
Forsyth will bring Singh, junior Phoebe Yue and sophomores Emma Spitz, Annabel Wilson and Emilie Paltrinieri to form the starting lineup for the tournament.
The team has six members available to play this weekend, and it will only be bringing the five starters to Arizona to participate in order to adhere to COVID-19 protocols.
After 10 months full of question marks, Forsyth said the Bruins are ready to begin their season and bring everything they have every week.
“We just want to go out there and give it our absolute best effort, and be willing to accept the results,” Forsyth said.
UCLA tees off Sunday at Superstition Mountain Golf Club in Gold Canyon, Arizona.
