Despite a strong start, the Bruins were unable to capitalize on their final day of play.

At the conclusion of the first day of the Fighting Irish Classic, UCLA men’s golf sat in third place. Despite early success, the team ended the two-day tournament in seventh place.

While Sunday was successful for the team, coach Armen Kirakossian said this early success may have impacted the Bruins’ performance in the final round.

“It’s a position that this team hasn’t been in very often, being in contention and being in the final group,” Kirakossian said. “And I think the moment probably got the best of us.”

Not only was the team successful overall after the first day, but so were the individual players. After the first two rounds, seniors Omar Morales and Pablo Ereño both had top-five finishes. Morales was tied for third overall and scored 2-under par, while Ereño was tied for fifth overall, with a 1-under par score.

“I was in fifth place until (the) last round, and then I didn’t play good last round,” said Ereño. “I think we wanted (it) so bad that we kind of put a little … pressure on us for the last day.”

The tournament came after finishing fifth at the Tindall earlier this month.

Kirakossian said the Fighting Irish Classic provided a new experience for the players.

“Honestly, it’s really the only way you can learn to be good in those moments is to put yourself in that position and then experience … a tough day,” Kirakossian said. “That’s how you learn is to go through that, and it hurts, but in golf, it’s a necessary part of the process.”

Morales finished the tournament tied for seventh, while Ereño finished tied for 17th. Sitting at four shots over par after the first day and two rounds of play, the Bruins concluded the tournament 20 over, shooting 16-over par in their third and final round of the tournament.

UCLA placed seventh overall out of the 15 teams competing at the Fighting Irish Classic with Notre Dame, Purdue, and Louisville taking the top three spots.

Moving forward, Ereño said the team will continue to practice and improve for future tournaments.

“We just need to keep practicing and getting better, and the results will come with it,” said Ereño. “We all kind of know individually what we have to work on. If the team individually … focuses on what they have to improve, then we’ll be better next week.”

UCLA will face a quick turnaround between the Fighting Irish Classic and its next tournament, which will occur in less than two weeks. Due to travel days for the team, the players and coaches have a little under a week before they leave for Georgia.

“We try to do homework and study as much as we can in tournaments, which we don’t usually have a lot of time, but we try, and we just got to get advantage of the time you have at home,” Ereño said.

The Bruins will have a week of recovery before they leave for their next tournament – Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate Invitational – hosted by Georgia Tech beginning Oct. 18.