UCLA men’s golf finishes in 8th place at Amer Ari Invitational

A pair of Spaniards led the Bruins to their first under-par finish of the season.

UCLA men’s golf finished eighth overall in the 19-team Amer Ari Invitational held Thursday to Saturday in Kamuela, Hawaii. Freshman Pablo Ereño Perez and redshirt sophomore Alvaro Muller Baumgart Lucena paced the Bruins as both finished in the top 23.

After his team’s best performance of the season, Perez said he found his footing as the tournament went along.

“I was more confident,” Perez said. “I didn’t really have trouble with any holes. My confidence was improving when I was playing.”

Perez was UCLA’s leading scorer at the tournament, finishing with a tie for 20th place with an 8-under 208. Muller finished with a 7-under 209, good for 23rd place.

Coach Derek Freeman said the Amer Ari Invitational is one of the best tournaments in the country because of its high-quality opponents.

“The beauty of playing golf at UCLA is that you’re going be able to play against the best players in the country week after week,” Freeman said. “It’s going to hone your skills and make you better, and that’s what we want and what we embrace.”

Following Muller was graduate student Devon Bling with a 4-under 211. On the first day of play, Bling collected a double bogey en route to a tie for 34th place. Not far behind in a tie for 45th place was graduate student Eddy Lai who played an overall 3-under 213.

Making his season debut Thursday, redshirt senior Kengo Aoshima finished with a 1-over 217, a mark that placed him in a tie for 71st place.

After unpredictable weather affected the team’s performance at the Southwestern Invitational, Freeman said the greens were difficult in Hawaii.

“It was a type of Bermuda grass that we don’t see a lot over here on the mainland,” Freeman said.

Perez added that his putting game was affected by the different course conditions.

“Putting downhill was fast, and putting uphill was really slow, so to putt with good speed was hard for me,” Perez said.

The tournament was a shotgun start, with all players in the tournament starting at the same time. Perez marked an under-par score on day one, finishing with four birdies and two bogeys. The freshman improved his score in the second round by getting an eagle on hole eight and finished day two with a 6-under 66 that helped his team move up four spots.

Muller’s game improved each day, with his performance being a 4-under 68 in round three.

“It’s probably been the best tournament I have played,” Muller said. “I feel like I am getting there, I just need to play more because I am playing OK, but I still made decisions that bothered me.”

With his team struggling on the green for the second tournament in a row, Freeman said he would evaluate the type of practice moving forward.

“We know there’s an area we have to take care of immediately, and … we got to do some short game work,” Freeman said. “We didn’t chip it very well the last two weeks, and we got to address that. The guys understand that, and they know that.”