Men’s golf places 17th in Wyoming Cowboy Classic, looks ahead to final tournaments
Sophomore Mason Greene was one of two Bruins to card an under-par round at the Wyoming Cowboy Classic as UCLA men’s golf finished in 17th place at the tournament. (Jeremy Chen/Daily Bruin)
By Austin Tran
April 8, 2021 12:17 p.m.
In the high temperatures of the Grand Canyon State, the Bruins could not keep pace.
UCLA men’s golf finished in 17th place in the 23-team field at the Wyoming Cowboy Classic in Chandler, Arizona. It shot a 17-over 881 to finish 50 strokes behind the winner, San Diego State. The Bruins never finished a round inside the top 10 of the three-round, two-day tournament.
Coach Derek Freeman said his team had a good week of training and a solid practice round, but neither translated to tournament success.
“For whatever reason, we just never got going,” Freeman said. “At one point, we got to about 10-under par and then after that, we just backtracked. The guys just showed very little emotion, (and) they were lethargic. We just didn’t do a good job of maintaining our confidence and making sure that we do the things necessary to play good golf.”
The tournament began in 90-degree heat in southern Arizona and senior Eddy Lai said UCLA had trouble acclimating to the weather conditions.
“We all played pretty bad – it was pretty rough,” Lai said. “(Monday) was a really long day, (and) I felt pretty tired.”
Lai and senior Devon Bling co-led the Bruins, each carding 3-over 219s to grab a share of 52nd place. The former did not score any double bogeys or worse and the latter finished outside the top 15 for the third straight tournament since winning the Lamkin San Diego Classic.
Following the pair was sophomore Mason Greene, who opened his week with back-to-back 4-over 76s before scoring under par Tuesday to finish in a seven-way tie for 72nd place with a 7-over 223.
Greene said the heat did not just affect the team’s stamina but also some tangible on-course efforts. The sophomore said his distance control was off because of the weather and geographic location.
“For us, it was really distance control,” Greene said. “Going into this week in Arizona, obviously, the elevation and the heat affected a lot of it. Personally, (I) wasn’t as prepared as I think I needed to be.”
Lai also mentioned how the heat took a toll on the team, both physically and mentally, but added there were still opportunities to score low, as other teams did.
“(The course) was pretty easy – it was pretty wide (with) no wind,” Lai said. “Greens were pretty easy. Had a decent amount of birdie looks, just putted pretty bad. My speed was pretty off.”
Rounding out the lineup were redshirt junior Kengo Aoshima and junior Bryan Wiyang Teoh. Aoshima carded a 9-over 225 and Teoh tallied a 10-over 226, earning ties for 86th and 90th, respectively.
Freeman said with only two more regular-season events ahead of the Pac-12 championships, his team is looking to put the Cowboy Classic behind it. The Bruins have a week of preparation before they embark on a weeklong road trip to conclude their regular season.
“I just have to really redefine our goals and what we are trying to do,” Freeman said. “I think they are really looking forward to these next two events before the postseason.”
UCLA will tee off at the 74th Western Intercollegiate on Monday. The event will be televised on the Golf Channel.
