Playing in unfamiliar territory with rain and wind on the horizon, the Bruins were disappointed by a shot at victory slipping out of their grasp.

No. 14 UCLA men’s golf placed third at the Watersound Invitational in Panama City Beach, Florida, finishing with a 13-under 851 across Monday and Tuesday. The event, which was compressed from the original three-day schedule because of inclement weather, saw the Bruins within striking distance of first place.

“We had a really good shot at winning, I thought the golf course set up good for us,” said coach Armen Kirakossian. “Not upset at a third-place finish but thought we had a good opportunity to win this week, and we didn’t pull it off.”

The event was full of the unexpected. The unfamiliarity of the course, which none of the Bruins had played on prior to this week, presented a potential challenge. And the wind and rain forecasted for Wednesday caused the second and third rounds to be played on a single day.

“We talk about being prepared for anything and adapting and being ready for anything that comes our way – and no matter what, competing,” Kirakossian said. “We came out ready to go, we unfortunately ran out of gas on the last 18. Played OK but just not well enough to win.”

The Bruins were tied for second going into that last 18, three strokes behind the leader, No. 23 Alabama. But Kirakossian said the team couldn’t find the explosiveness in the final round necessary to make a move.

It was the home team, Florida State, which managed to execute in the end, catching fire with a 15-under 273 in the third round to finish with a nine-stroke lead and the victory.

Senior Pablo Ereño, who tied for sixth individually with a 5-under 211, said he was similarly disappointment by the team’s result.

“We were good enough to win that tournament, and we just didn’t perform that well the last round,” Ereño said. “Happy overall, but also knowing that we can improve, and we need to improve if we want to win.”

But on the individual level, Ereño added that playing loose is key for his success – particularly as he continues to pursue professional golf.

“My mindset going into tournaments is just having fun and enjoying my last quarter at UCLA,” Ereño said. “I’m just going to go out there and have fun in the next event and try to perform as well as I can.”

Senior Omar Morales and junior Kyle An closely trailed Ereño in the individual leaderboard, finishing tied for 14th with matching 3-under 213s. Freshman Baylor Larrabe ended the event tied for 22nd, and freshman Trevor Garus rounded out the squad with a tie for 72nd.

The Bruins performed best on par 5s, where they shaved 20 strokes off par, and worst on par 3s, where they added 16.

“We need to get better in distances from 150 to 175 (yards),” Ereño said. “Out in LA, the par 3s are usually longer with that, so we’re pretty good with long irons. … All of the par 3s on this course were mid irons, so that just made us realize what we had to work on.”

The team will have the opportunity to put in that work before heading to Palo Alto for the Goodwin Invitational, as that event doesn’t come for more than a month.