Great expectations hindered the efforts of the women’s golf team this past week as it failed to capture a second consecutive national championship.
“It’s hard to be a defending national champion who’s ranked No. 1 coming into a tournament because everybody expects you to win,” coach Carrie Forsyth said. “And those expectations sometimes aren’t necessarily realistic. They’re not necessarily going to happen.”
The No. 1 UCLA women’s golf team entered the NCAA Tournament as the top seed after having finished the season with a record-tying seven tournament wins.
“It was the national championship and we all wanted to go out, play and win, but it just wasn’t our week,” senior Brianna Do said. “We couldn’t get anything going. We weren’t playing terrible, but we weren’t playing great.”
Do finished 14th overall, leading the team in her last collegiate tournament. She will be the sole graduating member of the team.
“It was nice to finish my collegiate career off well,” Do said. “I wouldn’t say my four years on the team were smooth sailing. I didn’t play in every tournament or every national championship, but I learned a lot about myself and my game.”
The lack of execution on the green left the Bruins without a firm foundation, and the added pressure to deliver the second national championship in two years created a stressful atmosphere for the team.
“We are trying our best; we are giving ourselves the opportunities; we just weren’t able to capitalize on all of them,” junior Tiffany Lua said.
Lua tied for 59th, finishing the final round at two-under par.
Though the team will not be adding another title to its collection, it will return most of this season’s starters, including freshman Erynne Lee, who earned the National Golf Coaches Association Freshman of the Year award. Coach Forsyth was also voted West Region Coach of the Year.
“I think this will be a good motivation for the girls coming back,” Do said. “Everyone wants to go off to a national championship and win. I think it’s going to be a motivating factor for the girls to work really hard over the summer. They learned from this championship to see what they were lacking and will work on those things for next season.”