Through a season full of uncertainties, the Bruins have a chance to win their first national championship since 2011.
UCLA women’s golf will head to Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, Arizona, for the 2021 national championships running Friday through Wednesday. The Bruins are coming off a second-place tie at the NCAA regional tournament in Simpsonville, Kentucky – their second-lowest scoring event of the season.
The Bruins will first take part in four days of tournament play from Friday to Monday, and if they are in the top eight, the blue and gold will advance to match play over the tournament’s final two days. Coach Carrie Forsyth said the team will need to stay both mentally and physically tough when it plays its longest tournament of the year on the biggest stage in collegiate golf.
“We are really going to need to focus on energy management and hydration with the temperatures being so high,” Forsyth said. “This is our last event of the season, so we are going to put everything we can into every round. We are going to spend a lot of time resting because we are going to need that, especially if we make it into the match play portion.”
Even with the hot conditions UCLA may face in Arizona, it has an advantage that many other teams in the field do not have – it has been here before. Forsyth said the Bruins played a round at Grayhawk earlier this year on a trip they took to Arizona for another tournament, which she thinks may give them a small advantage heading into this weekend.
UCLA will enter the tournament with the same starting lineup it used in Kentucky. Sophomore Emma Spitz – an ANNIKA Award finalist – leads the starting five coming off her first victory of the season at the regional, which she won by five strokes. Spitz also received All-Conference First Team honors after posting five top-three finishes on the year.
The Bruins’ starting lineup will consist of two additional players named All-Conference Honorable Mentions – sophomores Yuki Yoshihara and Annabel Wilson. Yoshihara has played five tournaments on the year but carded a third-place finish at the Silverado Showdown in April, where she shot a 2-under 214. Wilson has started every match this year for UCLA and has registered four top-10 finishes while shooting six rounds under par.
Wilson said she is excited to play in her first career national championship and is proud of how the team has battled against every challenge it has faced this year.
“I am super excited coming out this weekend to compete,” Wilson said. “I have heard so much about how memorable the week is, and I know my teammates and coaches are looking forward to getting out there.”
The Bruins’ starting lineup will be rounded out by sophomore Emilie Paltrinieri and junior Simar Singh. Paltrinieri is another member of the team who has started every event this year for the blue and gold while boasting five top-20 finishes. Singh has made six starts for UCLA so far this year and has registered one top-20 finish.
Forsyth said the goal she established for the team this year was to peak in May. The two-time national champion coach said the Bruins have done just that, and even though her team may be inexperienced – with no players having played in the national championship before – she feels if it plays how it did in Kentucky, it will be in a good spot to compete.
“I think we definitely played some of our best golf all season this past week in Kentucky when we absolutely needed to,” Forsyth said. “The girls are in a good space, and there is a lot of belief they have in themselves as a team.”
UCLA will start its quest for a fourth national championship Friday morning when it tees off in Scottsdale.
