UCLA women’s golf looks to carry momentum into Pac-12 championships
Players and coaches of No. 12 UCLA women’s golf huddle. Coming off their first tournament win since 2018, the Bruins will head to Eugene to take on the Pac-12 championships starting Monday. (Joseph Jimenez/Daily Bruin)
WOMEN’S GOLF
Pac-12 championships
Monday to Wednesday
Eugene, Oregon
By Joseph Crosby
April 17, 2022 1:57 p.m.
The Bruins are heading into the postseason on the heels of their best tournament finish of the season.
No. 12 UCLA women’s golf will play for a conference title at the Pac-12 championships in Eugene starting Monday. After securing its first tournament win since 2018 at the Chambers Bay Invitational on Tuesday, coach Carrie Forsyth said the team knows what it will take to win in the playoffs.
“The girls (are) understanding that we need to step it up, and everybody has to play a little bit better,” Forsyth said. “We need to be sharp, focused and believe that we are good enough and worthy of being a contender in a strong field.”
The 11-team field features six top-25 teams, including No. 1 Stanford, No. 2 Oregon, No. 7 Arizona State and No. 9 USC. The Trojans have won both of the past two Pac-12 tournaments in 2019 and 2021, while the Bruins will have the chance to claim their eighth championship in program history and first since 2018.
The three-day, 54-hole tournament will be played at the Eugene Country Club, a location which Forsyth said the team will have to adapt to.
“Chambers Bay was a links golf course – wide open, exposed to the wind,” Forsyth said. “Eugene Country Club is a tree-lined golf course with heavy rough and fast greens, so we got to adjust.”
The Bruins played through adverse weather conditions at Chambers Bay, enduring rain and strong winds during the last day of the tournament. Junior Emilie Paltrinieri said the team’s performance in spite of the circumstances reveals a lot about its resilience.
“Having won in such a difficult event in these conditions really shows that the team is made of good and solid players,” Paltrinieri said. “Mentally, we know that we’re tough, and I think that’s why we were able to dominate on top of the other teams. That gives us confidence for the postseason.”
In its penultimate regular-season tournament at the PING/ASU Invitational, UCLA shot a then-season-best 5-under 283 in the final round. At Chambers Bay, the Bruins improved their season-best score to 6-under 282.
Junior Emma Spitz said UCLA’s performances heading into the postseason supplied confidence for the team.
“It shows us that we can win, and we can score under par,” Spitz said. “It’s good to see for the postseason that we can score under par as a team too, and we can have a chance at winning any tournament.”
Spitz is currently ranked 11th in the nation individually and will face off against three top-10 competitors in No. 1 Rose Zhang, No. 2 Amari Avery and No. 4 Alexandra Forsterling of Stanford, USC and Arizona State, respectively.
The Bruins will tee off Monday at 9 a.m. in their pursuit of another conference championship.
