By Jessica Bach
Daily Bruin Contributor
The Bruins had it; victory was in their sight. For the first
time this season, the UCLA men’s golf team looked like it was
going to grasp a win as it went into Friday’s last day of
competition with a two-stoke lead.
But it didn’t last, as the Bruins couldn’t hold on,
and by the end of the day at the Long Beach State 49er Classic at
the Industry Hills Zaharias course, they had dropped three spots to
go home with fourth place.
“Going into Friday we were leading, and we thought we
could pull it out,” sophomore John Merrick said, who was the
team leader with a 6-over par 219 to tie for 7th. “I’m
not sure what happened, we just had a total collapse.”
After the first two rounds of play, the Bruins led Texas
Christian by two shots and Toledo by three shots. Sophomore Roy
Moon headed the team at fifth place with a score if 143, and
Merrick was tied for sixth at 145.
But Friday things changed for the team, as it posted a final
team score of 884, and went from 3-under par to 32 over, coming in
behind TCU’s 861 and 9-over par, Toledo’s 873 21-over
par and UC Riverside’s 883 31-over par.
“We were definitely anxious,” said freshman Breene
Murphy, who tied for 17th with his 10-over par, 223. “We
haven’t played well in the past, and when we had a chance to
do well, we blew it.”
Individually, the Bruins were led by Merrick and Moon, followed
by Murphy, Parker McLachlin and junior Sang-Eu Ji.
This season, the men’s golf team has been struggling. The
season’s first tournament ended in a tie for last place, and
before last week’s competition they had yet to finish in the
top five. But the 49er Classic showed the signs of improvement for
the Bruins.
“We’ve gotten better, and there has been
progress,” Merrick said. “Now we’ve got our
confidence, and we know we can do it, we just have to do
it.”