Only 11 schools sponsor women’s golf in the Pac-12, despite its name.

But while it may not be the largest conference, the Pac-12 boasts the second-most ranked teams at six, only behind the 14-team Southeastern Conference. Among those are three top-10 teams – No. 1 Stanford, No. 4 UCLA and No. 6 USC.

UCLA women’s golf faced off against all other Pac-12 teams in its first postseason tournament of the 2023-2024 run from Sunday to Tuesday, finishing fourth with a 12-under 852. The Bruins have taken home a total of seven Pac-12 titles, with the most recent being in 2018, but fell short in their final attempt before moving to the Big Ten.

“I don’t think it’s a secret that the Pac-12 has some of the most competitive women’s golf teams,” said sophomore Meghan Royal. “Compared to other teams that we play, it’s definitely stronger competition.”

Last season, the Bruins finished the Pac-12 championships in eight place, their lowest finish under coach Carrie Forsyth, who announced her retirement shortly after the tournament ended. UCLA improved from last year’s performance, finishing this year’s tournament behind Stanford, USC and No. 14 Oregon.

After its first day of play, UCLA sat beside No. 13 Arizona State in a tie for fifth place. The Cardinal led the pack with a two-under 286, leaving the Bruins to trail first place by 13 strokes.

Junior Zoe Antoinette Campos shot UCLA’s best round of the day, with a 1-over 73 to tie for 11th place for the overall individual score.

Coach Alicia Um Holmes said intense conditions during the first round may have affected the Bruins’ start to the tournament.

“We had a practice round with about 20-25 mile-per-hour winds,” said Um Holmes. “For the first round, it was still quite windy … but the exact opposite wind. I think that led to a bit higher scores the first day.”

Campos went on to end the tournament as UCLA’s highest ranked golfer, tied for seventh place with an overall 4-under 212.

“We all battled out there. Just coming back the next two days is really special, and it’s a good outlook,” Campos said. “Personally, I wish I could have done a little bit better, but not knowing the course – I think I did pretty well mentally and physically.”

On the second day, the wind began to slow, allowing UCLA to regain some of its footing, rising to fourth place by the end of the second round. The gap with the Cardinal only grew though, with the Bruins trailing by 15 strokes with an overall 1-under 575 score, despite a 12-under 276 day.

Royal outperformed her first two rounds during Tuesday’s final round of play. Despite a 3-over first round, Royal’s 2-under second round and 4-under third round allowed her to jump in the rankings, finishing the tournament in ninth place.

She said staying level-headed contributed to the improved third round performance.

“I don’t think anything changed,” said Royal. “I just stuck to my process and just stayed patient and let it kind of unfold the way it did.”

UCLA rounded off its final Pac-12 championship with an overall 12-under 852, a substantial 16 strokes behind Stanford.

“We’ve got to get our short game sharper because that is where we’re losing the most strokes,” Um Holmes said. “We’re going to hit that hard in the next week or so to prep for regionals.”

Next up, the Bruins will travel to Las Vegas to compete in the NCAA regionals, where they’ll face off against 11 teams, including SEC’s own No. 9 Arkansas, in early May.