Thursday, November 5, 1998
Third-place finish bolsters team’s spirit
W. GOLF: Controversial call at tournament fails to dampen
confidence
By Pauline Vu
Daily Bruin Contributor
At her last tournament, Alexandra Gasser fired UCLA’s lowest
overall score of 73 in a spectacular first round  then
immediately followed that with a second round of 84, the worst
score among the Bruins.
So when she shot another first-round 73 at the Princeville
Rainbow Invitational in Hawaii, she was determined not to let
inconsistency plague her again.
"I don’t like it when you start well and then can’t keep it up.
I’m more happy if you do bad at the beginning and then catch up,"
Gasser said.
She is happiest, however, when she both starts well and finishes
better, as she did in Hawaii .
Gasser followed up her 73 with rounds of 73 and 70 to end up
even-par and lead the Bruins from seventh place to third place with
a score of 893, 29-over par.
"Seventh place was disappointing. After the first round we told
each other, ‘We’re not going be nice next time,’" Gasser said.
The Bruins saved their best finish for their last tournament of
the fall season, as this third place comes after a couple of
average tournament finishes and one downright bad one.
"We’re getting better with each tournament. We seemed to gel
this time and pull it all together," said coach Jackie
Tobian-Steinmann.
Two other players in particular helped the Bruins climb to
third.
Laura Moffat, like Gasser, pulled off the best performance of
her UCLA career, shooting 221, only 5-over par, to place 14th.
Amanda Moltke-Leth shot only three strokes more than her to tie for
17th place.
Both had been tied after the first round in 26th place.
"All the foreigners played very well," Tobian-Steinmann joked,
"and the Americans, they just played normal."
Gasser hails from Switzerland, Moffat from Scotland and
Moltke-Leth from Denmark.
Leilani Bagby fell from 26th place to 42th, and Julie Oh from
48th to 78th place.
"Leilani hung in there, but Julie didn’t play very well, which
was surprising," Tobian-Steinmann said.
Although Moltke-Leth’s score was certainly respectable enough,
on the first hole in the first round she met trouble that cost her
at least three strokes.
She shot the ball into the water and then, instead of being
allowed to place the ball at the designated dropping zone close to
where the ball fell in the water, the official forced her to place
the ball farther from the hole. She promptly shot the ball into the
water again.
The actual dropping zone was only 100 yards from the hole. The
official’s chosen spot was an additional 70 yards.
"The official gave her the wrong ruling. He said the actual
dropping zone was for tourists and not this tournament," Gasser
said.
Moltke-Leth ended up scoring nine on the par-5 hole.
"It discouraged her, but she still scored pretty well overall,"
Gasser said.
However, if the official had ruled correctly, Moltke-Leth
would’ve finished the tournament only 5-over par and tied in 14th
with Moffat.
The Bruins finished behind Oklahoma State (No. 14) and Oregon
State (No. 20), the only two ranked teams at the tournament.
"We did OK and I’m proud of them. Finally, we got it going,"
Tobian-Steinmann said.
Gasser predicts only future success.
"I think we can make it to Nationals," she said, "This good
start will bring up our confidence for the next time."
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