Awards are nice, but championships are better.

Having won plenty of accolades for this season’s play, the Bruins will begin their chase to add more hardware to their collection.

No. 3 seed UCLA men’s golf heads to Auburn, Alabama, to play in the Auburn NCAA regional, hosted at the Auburn University Club. The Bruins are one of 13 teams in the regional vying for a spot in the NCAA championships in Carlsbad, California.

With the team less than two weeks removed from winning the Big Ten tournament, countless Bruins received major awards and recognition from the conference. Seniors Omar Morales and Pablo Ereño each earned first-team All-Big Ten honors, with Ereño being named the Big Ten’s Men’s Golfer of the Year.

“It just shows all the hard work I have put in not only this year but for all four years,” Ereño said. “I am just super grateful.”

Junior Kyle An and freshman Baylor Larrabee each earned second-team All-Big Ten selections, with Larrabee also being honored as the conference’s Freshman of the Year. In addition, coach Armen Kirakossian earned the Big Ten Coach of the Year award.

“Any time you get recognized by your peers and by your conference, it is a big deal,” Kirakossian said. “But we have so much work ahead of us.”

To qualify for the NCAA Championships, the Bruins need a top-five finish in the Auburn Regional. A total of 30 teams across the six regional tournaments will compete in the championship.

The Bruins have never played at the Auburn University Club, which is a par-72 course ranging over 7,600 yards. Last year, the Bruins failed to advance past the regionals after placing seventh at the Stanford regional.

“It was the first time any single player on our roster had even competed in a regional tournament,” Kirakossian said. “Now we are getting another taste at it, which is a big motivating factor.”

This go around, the Bruins’ starting five will consist of Morales, Ereño, An, Larrabee and sophomore Luke Powell. Freshman Trevor Garus rounds out the lineup as a substitute.

In Alabama, the Bruins will compete against eight other teams ranked in the top 50 nationally, with No. 1 overall Auburn and No. 12 Texas A&M being the regional’s highest two seeds, respectively.

This is seniors Morales and Ereño’s last opportunity to take UCLA to the NCAA Championships – somewhere the team has not been since 2018.

“I think we can make a really good run to try and win the national championship,” Ereño said. “This is my last chance, so I really want to do it.”

The Bruins start the 54-hole Auburn regional Monday and will wrap up Wednesday.

“Nobody cares what your ranking is. Nobody cares what your last name is or what you have done in the past.” Kirakossian said. “You have got to be ready to fight hard.”