COURTNEY STEWART/Daily Bruin Freshman Melissa
Martin prepares to drive the ball in a tournament earlier
this season. NCAA Championship 1.
Georgia 1,176 2. Duke 1,179 3. Texas 1,191 T-5. UCLA
1,194
By Pauline Vu
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
They had nothing to lose going into NCAA Championships, a
24-team field in Orlando where, truthfully, the UCLA women’s
golf team wasn’t expected to do anything spectacular.
So they just went out and played like they knew they could, and
when the four-day tournament was all said and done, the Bruins had
a fifth-place finish in the most elite field in the nation with a
team total of 1,194 shots.
“It was one of the greatest tournaments I’ve ever
played in,” freshman Gina Umeck said. “To be among the
best in the nation for this level was mind-boggling.
“It couldn’t have ended any better than it had; it
was truly a great close for our season,” she added.
The Bruins stunned the field the first day, where they led the
tournament for the bulk of the first round before slipping to
second. The second day the team moved to fourth place.
A large part of the good start had to do with the play of senior
co-captain Laura Moffat, who shot a pair of 69s to be the
tournament leader for the first two rounds.
“She stepped up at the right time,” freshman Melissa
Martin said. “She was really motivated to do it, and
she’s strong-willed. When she wants to do something,
she’ll get it done.”
Moffat eventually shot 75 and 76 in the final two rounds (289
total) to finish in a tie for sixth, the highest finish by a UCLA
women golfer since 1996.
Umeck felt the Bruins could have placed a little higher in the
end if in the final rounds the other Bruins stepped up like Moffat
did.
“We needed to pitch in more, to help her out,” Umeck
said. “She was carrying us the whole way. None of us really
contributed a low score on the other two days.”
But the Bruins continued their steady play into the third and
fourth rounds. They fell to sixth place after round three, but
moved up a spot to tie with Oklahoma State for fifth place on the
fourth day.
When the final round ended and UCLA was in fifth, far ahead of
any other West Coast and Pac-10 team, Head Coach Carrie Leary cried
with joy.
“She was pretty elated,” Martin said.
No. 6 Georgia won the title over top-ranked Duke by three
strokes with a score of 1,176. Texas was third (1,191) and Auburn
fourth (1,193).
Behind Moffat, Martin tied for 21st (296), Umeck tied for 27th
(298), senior Leilani Bagby tied for 82nd (311), and redshirt
freshman Saki Uechi tied for 107th place (319).
It’s hard to tell what the best part for the team was. The
freshmen say it was the overall experience. Martin thought maybe it
was the fact the underdog Bruins were able to show what they were
made of.
“I think we surpassed everybody’s
expectations,” she said.
Umeck pointed out the fact the team beat several teams that they
haven’t defeated that often, including No. 4 USC by two
strokes (seventh place), No. 2 Arizona by three strokes (eighth)
and No. 5 Stanford by seven strokes (ninth).
“That’s exceptional. Especially since we came in
seventh at Pac-10s,” Umeck said with a laugh.
And Moffat pointed out the fact that the Bruins gelled as a
team. When asked what she attributed the team’s play to, she
answered only, “Team chemistry.”
Or maybe it was just that, at last, the Bruins played to their
potential.
“We finally rose to the occasion,” Umeck said.
“It all came together for us.”
And it resulted in one of the best finishes in years for a team
that wasn’t expected to do much in the NCAA Tournament.