In 1995, University of Hawaii’s Dawn Kaneshiro hit 65 (-7) in a single round at the Bay Course in Maui, Hawaii, setting a course record. Eighteen years later, UCLA sophomore Erynne Lee hit eight birdies in the tournament’s third and final round to match that performance.
It was an excellent finish to a tournament that didn’t quite begin as Lee had hoped — she was +6 after the first two rounds.
“I had a rough [first] two days, and haven’t been playing at my optimum level this winter quarter but today’s round was definitely great. I shocked myself in a way with how well I played,” Lee said.
Led by Lee, the No. 11 Bruins hit 854 (-12) en route to a four-stroke victory over Washington at this week’s Anuenue Spring Break Classic. Always-dependable senior Tiffany Lua led the Bruins overall, hitting 213 (-3) and finishing tied for fifth place.
Lee finished at 215 (-1) overall, putting her at second on the Bruins. Junior Ani Gulugian and freshman Louise Ridderstrom rounded out the Bruins’ top four, hitting 217 (+1) and 219 (+3), respectively.
The Bruins’ performance improved as the tournament went on, and they were able to finish with 25 birdies for a school-record -12 on the final day of competition. Entering that day, UCLA trailed Washington by five strokes. The team’s dominant third-round performance, however, paved the way for the comeback victory.
“[Coach Carrie Forsyth] told us that we have all the skills to [win],” said Lua, who birdied in three of her last four shots, “and that we just had to focus and do what we know how to do. I think that our emphasis on that was key to our comeback.”
This tournament victory was welcome for the Bruins, who had lost to rival USC in their last competition, the March 5th Bruin Wave Invitational. In that tournament, a poor short game crippled the team, which lapsed in the second round to fall behind the surging Trojans.
In this tournament, however, the Bruins put their short game woes behind them, focusing on maximizing the efficiency of each stroke. This economy of strokes was key to the victory, said Lee, who personally focused on saving as many as she could.
“Coach said that we’d been losing a lot of strokes as a team in the short game around the green — something that should be our strength,” Lee said. ”We’ve been working hard on it especially since we lost the last two tournaments to USC, and we saw some changes [in the results] out there today.”
Compiled by Anay Dattawadkar, Bruin Sports contributor
