COURTNEY STEWART/Daily Bruin Junior Parker
McLachlin, shown in a contest earlier this year, finished
16th in the NCAA tounament with an overall mark of one under
par.
By Pauline Vu
Daily Bruin Senior Staff
When it was over, there were no hysterics or tears. The members
of the UCLA men’s golf team just looked at the scoreboard and
knew they hadn’t made the cut.
By just one stroke, the team’s season ended two days
earlier than they hoped it would. At the NCAA Championships last
week in Durham, N.C., the Bruins needed to finish in the top half
of the 30-team field after the first two rounds of play Wednesday
and Thursday to continue into the final rounds of the NCAA
Tournament on Friday and Saturday.
“Coming down to the last couple holes everybody knew that
we were right on the edge,” sophomore J.T. Kohut said.
“I knew coming in that every stroke was gonna
count.”
But he didn’t know then just how close his team would end
up. Just one shot would’ve made all the difference.
UCLA ended the first half with a 15-over par 591, placing 17th.
At one stroke ahead of them, three schools tied for 14th place to
make the cut, while UCLA didn’t.
“I felt a little frustrated,” Kohut said. “Our
goals were to definitely contend for the championship and we
struggled.”
Kohut and freshman Steve Conway tied for 61st place with a total
of 149. Freshman John Merrick tied for 81st place at 150, and
sophomore Travis Johnson placed 146th with a score of 157.
The Bruins did manage to move up from 22nd place after the first
day to 17th after the second. Kohut said no one was worried or
nervous after the first round. They simply knew they had to play
better, even though it turned out it wasn’t enough.
One Bruin, junior Parker McLachlin, continued past the first two
rounds as an individual. To qualify, he needed to be one of the top
nine golfers on teams that weren’t continuing. McLachlin shot
74 the first round, but shot a 3-under par 69 in the second round
to solidify his spot. He was 14th overall at the time.
After play stopped in the third round Friday because of rain,
McLachlin shot his final two rounds on Saturday morning and
afternoon. He shot 73 in the morning and 71 in the afternoon to
finish with a total of 287 for the tournament, tying for 16th
place.