What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.

And after barely surviving the beginning of the postseason last year, the Bruins return in a much stronger form.

No. 14 UCLA women’s golf will begin postseason play at the Big Ten Championship in Glendale from Friday to Sunday. The event will take place at the Oakmont Country Club, the closest conference championship course to UCLA since Brentwood Country Club hosted the 1994 Pac-10 Championship.

The Bruins entered the event last year needing a seventh-place finish to reach a .500 head-to-head record and qualify for NCAA regionals – a feat they narrowly achieved. But this year’s squad sits over .700, and are therefore guaranteed a spot in regionals regardless of how they perform.

“It’s going to be a completely different feel for this team this year – they don’t have that added pressure,” said coach Alicia Um Holmes. “We’re just focused on our growth this year.”

Strong growth could be a good sign for the future of Um Holmes’ roster, which features three freshmen and three sophomores.

Freshman Kacey Ly has already made a name for herself, earning three Big Ten Freshman of the Week awards this season, with the most recent selection following her third-place finish at the Huntington Bank Collegiate April 6 and 7.

“Knowing that I can compete against other people, other good players, and taking that experience and learning from my past mistakes and what I can improve on during these past few tournaments (is important),” Ly said.

Sophomore Jen Lee has often scored low with Ly, nabbing two Big Ten Golfer of the Week nods this year, and she will likely make the lineup at the championship.

Lee and Ly will both be testing their games against postseason conditions for the first time, as Lee transferred from Baylor before its postseason campaign last year. Lee said the less experienced members of the squad were listening to their teammates’ guidance.

“Our senior and junior are also telling us to try to stay in the moment,” Lee said. “Even if you had bad holes or bad days, don’t question yourself and keep going.”

If the Bruins want to avoid those bad days, they’ll have to be precise and calculated on the course.

“The focus here going into Big Tens is probably getting them prepared for course management at Oakmont – it’s a tight course, and it has really sloped greens,” Um Holmes said. “Having a good strategy going in, knowing where you can miss it, knowing where you have to stay conservative – that’s going to be one of our focuses heading in.”

The field will feature two opponents ranked higher than the Bruins – No. 2 USC and No. 6 Oregon. The crosstown rival has been a familiar foe this season, besting UCLA in five of their six bouts, including a head-to-head win in the Battle of LA.

Um Holmes said after a boost of confidence from a third place finish in the regular season closer, the time before the championship begins will be spent fine-tuning the little things while the big picture remains the same.

[Related: UCLA women’s golf finishes 3rd in Dallas to close regular season]

“They’re trending in the right direction,” Um Holmes said. “If we can use our time wisely and practice and get some good reps in but with balance of playing for score, I think we’ll be ready to go.”