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UCLA women’s golf swings a tie for 2nd place at Molly Collegiate Invitational

UCLA women’s golf redshirt sophomore Ty Akabane shot an even-par 72 in her final round Tuesday to finish with an 8-over-224, good for 14th place at The Molly Collegiate Invitational. (Courtesy of UCLA Athletics)

By Austin Tran

Oct. 1, 2021 12:58 p.m.

Correction: The original version of this article and its headline incorrectly stated the UCLA women’s golf tied for second place at the Molly College Invitational. In fact, they tied for second place at the Molly Collegiate Invitational.

This post was updated Oct. 4 at 5:20 p.m.

The Bruins improved upon their 10th-place finish from their season opener.

UCLA women’s golf finished in a tie for second place at the Molly Collegiate Invitational at the Bayonet and Black Horse courses Monday and Tuesday, moving up eight places from its last go around at the ANNIKA Intercollegiate. The Bruins were only seven strokes back of the winning team, Stanford, finishing with a score of 21-over-par in 54 holes of play.

UCLA held a lead at one point in the tournament, but the Cardinal shot a 6-under-par on the last day to take the lead away from the Bruins. Despite the loss, coach Carrie Forsyth said the team played well.

“We had a few of our players who played very well,” Forsyth said. “It was a beautiful day, but it was a little windy and the golf course was pretty hard.”

While redshirt freshman Alessia Nobilio was making her first collegiate start, she led the team in scoring with a total of three-over-par, finishing in a tie for fifth overall.

Nobilio said the finish was a result of a good week of practice, which she said helped her feel confident about her game going into the week. She added that playing in a team setting has helped her play her best golf.

“I really enjoy playing for a team, knowing my score doesn’t count only for myself, but for the whole team– that we share this tournament together and that we’re playing for each other,” Nobilio said.

Forsyth said Nobilio was ready for the spotlight and handled her first collegiate start like an experienced golfer.

“Alessia is a seasoned veteran of competitive golf – the girl has been ranked one of the highest in the World Amateur Golf Rankings,” Forsyth said. “This is nothing new to her and she feels very comfortable in this competitive environment.”

Following Nobilio on the Bruins’ team leaderboard were freshman Zoe Campos and redshirt sophomore Ty Akabane. Campos, who led the field after the first 36 holes, finished at 5-over-par, good for a tie for eighth place, while Akabane finished in 14th place with an 8-over-par.

Rounding out the team was senior Simar Singh and junior Annabel Wilson – the two most experienced Bruins in the lineup. Singh shot a 15-over-par while Wilson finished with a total of 20-over-par, earning 35th and 52nd-place finishes, respectively. Senior Emilie Paltrinieri played as an individual and also shot a total of 15-over-par to tie with Singh’s showing.

While the Bruins were unable to come up with a win, Forsyth said the team made a significant improvement from the tournament before.

“The girls were hitting it a little better this weekend,” Forsyth said.“Ball striking was better for us this week and I also felt like they putted pretty well. The greens were fast and slopey. We were just more solid all around.”

With UCLA’s season set to end as late as May 2022, Forsyth said the team will have many ups and downs in its campaign, adding that patience will be key.

“It’s a super long season,” Forsyth said. “We will have times where we play really well and we’ll have events where we don’t play as well in. Every time (we) try to learn from the mistakes and grow.”

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Austin Tran | Sports reporter
Tran is currently a Sports reporter on the men's and women's golf beats.
Tran is currently a Sports reporter on the men's and women's golf beats.
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