UCLA women’s golf sweeps Bruin Wave Invitational, drives toward home victory
UCLA women’s golf huddles following its win at the Bruin Wave Invitational. Despite losing two of its strongest players in the past few months, the Bruins were able to set record scores at their home tournament. (Courtesy of UCLA Athletics)
Women's Golf
Bruin Wave Invitational
1st place
By J. Spencer Brown
Feb. 26, 2025 2:59 p.m.
Freshman Francesca Fiorellini left her team’s practice round at Valencia Country Club distraught, having shot 10 over through 12 holes.
Less than two weeks later, she walked off the Santa Clarita, California, course as the individual champion, setting the all-time tournament scoring record in the process.
UCLA women’s golf emerged victorious Tuesday from the 12-team field at the Bruin Wave Invitational – an event co-hosted with Pepperdine.
“I’m really happy for Francesca,” said coach Alicia Um Holmes. “Sometimes you have to go through these hardships to make a change.”
Fiorellini fired three consecutive under-par rounds of 3-under, 4-under and 2-under, respectively. The Annika Award candidate – an honor bestowed upon the top player in all of Division 1 women’s college golf – posted an aggregate score of 9-under, 207 – breaking the previous tournament-low of 208, set by Pepperdine’s Danielle Kang in 2010.
In addition to carding just three bogeys throughout the event, Fiorellini finished her final round with four birdies over the last six holes.
“The course is narrow and the wind was blowing,” Fiorellini said. “The key was hitting a lot of fairways and greens.”
The team claimed each of the top three spots, with Fiorellini placing first, senior Tiffany Le – who competed as an individual – taking second and freshman Angela Liu rounding out the top three.
Liu was the first Bruin to strike, shooting a first-round 4-under par – with the help of seven birdies.
“It was nice having the home course advantage out there,” Liu said. “Knowing the fairways, knowing the greens and knowing where to hit it helped a lot.”
Players completed each of their first two rounds Monday, and after the completion of the tournament’s 36 holes, it was Fiorellini and Liu sitting at the top of the leaderboard.
Le overtook the second-place position after a bogey-free 2-under score in the final round to shoot a three-day total of 1-over, 217. In addition to completing UCLA’s sweep of the podium, Le earned the sole top-ten finish of any player competing as an individual.
“We focused on enjoying ourselves out there,” Um Holmes said. “Enjoying the challenge, having fun, engaging with what we were doing and being enthusiastic about playing.”
