The Bruins rounded off their fall season in a hotly contested match play event.

UCLA men’s golf fell 3-2 to Arizona in the consolation round of the East Lake Cup on Wednesday, following a 3-2 loss to No. 1 Oklahoma State on Tuesday in the match play semifinal. The end of the 2026 campaign came with those two contests, which followed a stroke play round at the East Lake Golf Club in Atlanta that saw the Bruins finish third out of four teams with an 8-under 280.

The four teams in the event – including No. 3 Auburn – received invites as the four semifinalists at last year’s national championship, where the Bruins finished second to the Tigers.

“Anytime you’re playing against the best competition on the best golf courses, that’s where you want to be,” coach Armen Kirakossian said. “Being around great players is always an advantage. Helps you get better.”

The stroke play score for the Bruins – five strokes behind the leading Tigers – was driven by junior Baylor Larrabee, who carded a 4-under 68. Sophomore Josh Kim was one shot behind and was also the only Bruin to win both his match play contests.

Kim said the match play format works in his favor, adding that he tries to stick to his game plan while allowing his opponent to stumble and make a mistake. Larrabee said the event required a change of mentality and was good preparation for the match play rounds to eventually come at the national championship.

“It was a really fun experience,” Kim said. “I learned a lot of new things and some areas for me to improve.”

UCLA’s performance was hurt by a sudden illness that affected sophomore Tyler Loree midway through the match against Oklahoma State, Kirakossian said. Loree forfeited his head-to-head against the Cowboys’ Gaven Lane, 8&7.

Senior Alex Papayoanou – who fell 5&3 to Preston Stout, the No. 1-ranked male amateur golfer in the world, in the Oklahoma State match – was awarded the Tom Cousins Award at the event. The award, named after the man who purchased and restored the East Lake Golf Club in the late 1990s, recognizes academic success and service.

“That’s what the Tom Cousins Award is all about – somebody who gives back to their community, is trying to help grow the game and trying to help improve other people,” Kirakossian said. “Alex does that in a lot of ways.”

The East Lake Cup marks the end of over a month of middling results – before the event, UCLA’s best finish of the year was eighth. Kirakossian said the team needed to turn up the intentionality of practice over the break to be best prepared for spring play.

The Bruins will return to action in late January at the Southwestern Invitational.

“It’s going to be a lot of hard work this offseason,” Larrabee said. “Focusing on my swing, making sure everything’s fundamentally back in the spot that it should be.”