Monday, 2/24/97
Women golfers garner second after bad start to fall season
By Chris Umpierre
Daily Bruin Contributor
Things have definitely turned around for the UCLA women’s golf
team.
After playing below expectations during much of the fall season,
the Bruins, amid an array of top-ranked teams, turned in their best
performance of the season last week in the Regional Challenge to
begin winter tournament play.
The Bruins finished second in a field which included the top
five nationally-ranked teams in the country. This performance has
given the team much needed confidence and optimism as the Bruins
head into the stretch run of the season.
"It was a very positive experience," UCLA assistant coach
Jennifer Biehn said. "The girls have buckled down and are ready to
play. They know that this spring season (that) what they do,
especially at the beginning, puts them in line with the rankings to
qualify for regionals and nationals. It’s time to get serious now
and they are ready to do it."
Much of the credit for the team’s improved play can be given to
sophomore transfer Sophie Sandolo from Nice, France. Added to the
team for the beginning of the winter season, Sandolo’s impact has
been felt immediately.
In her first collegiate tournament, she finished fourth overall,
outshooting several top players in the competitive Regional
Challenge. Bringing tournament experience from the European and
world level to the team, Sandolo has significantly raised the level
of play on the five-player traveling team.
"When you add another person to a team where people are
competing for five spots it makes everyone else work harder,
because everyone wants to travel but we can only take five," Biehn
said. "So the level of everyone’s play is going to be raised
because of the addition of another player, another great
player."
The Bruins traveled to Temecula on Sunday to host the Pioneer
Electronics Golf Classic today through Tuesday. The Bruins will
hold a decisive home field advantage against such top teams as
Stanford and Arizona State.
After a mediocre fall season, the Bruins hope to continue not
only their improved play but their rise in the rankings as the NCAA
regionals and championships loom in the future.
"The positive thing about the way this season is going is that
we are improving each week," Biehn said. "We’re not having to
maintain a number one ranking (like last year’s team did). It’s
very tough on a team. If you are number one all the time, you
either maintain it or you slide down. We have no where to go but
up."