The Bruins will have the chance to beat the competition in the second tournament of their spring season but will have to overcome a tough course first, according to coach Carrie Forsyth.
No. 15 UCLA women’s golf is set to compete in the Lamkin Invitational hosted by San Diego State on Monday and Tuesday. The two-day tournament consists of 54 holes played at The Farms Golf Club in Rancho Sante Fe, California.
Forsyth said the design of the course coupled with the challenge of playing 54 holes in two days will demand a lot from the team.
“The 36-hole day is really difficult,” Forsyth said. “This golf course is kind of hilly also, so it becomes a much more physically demanding event. You get really exhausted, and it’s like a marathon.”
This will be the Bruins’ second 54-hole, two-day competition this year, as the Molly Collegiate Invitational in September featured the same format. At that tournament, UCLA finished tied for second place.
Despite the physical toll of the extra holes, Forsyth said the key to success will be maintaining mental stamina.
“I ultimately think the mental element is the hardest thing, especially if you’ve had some bad holes or didn’t have a very good first round,” Forsyth said. “You just have to play through it. No matter what happens, you can’t get frustrated.”
The Bruins will field four of the same five players from the Match in the Desert on Jan. 23 and Jan. 24, with the return of junior Emma Spitz, redshirt freshman Alessia Nobilio, freshman Caroline Canales and freshman Zoe Antoinette Campos. Junior Yuki Yoshihara will make her season debut in the fifth spot after earning the position in an intrasquad qualifying competition.
Forsyth said the structure of this week’s course makes it more difficult than the Superstition Mountain course at the Match in the Desert.
“This particular golf course demands a lot in terms of your ball striking as well as in putting,” Forsyth said. “But there are no weird, natural effects like the mountain effect. It’s just a difficult course because it’s narrow … and the greens themselves are rather tricky.”
Following the Match in the Desert, Forsyth said putting was an area that could use improvement coming into this tournament.
“They have putted a lot better in practice and during the qualifying,” Forsyth said. “We’ve got a good opportunity down in San Diego to do well because they’re just looking a lot more sharp than they did in our first event.”
The last time the Bruins played at the Lamkin Invitational, Spitz finished tied for second, one stroke back of first. The junior is the only golfer in the starting lineup that has previously played the course at the collegiate level.
Forsyth said Spitz’s practice was limited over the winter break because of a non-golf-related surgery, and she has only recently returned to consistent practice.
“(Spitz) had almost three weeks where she was unable to do anything, golfwise,” Forsyth said. “Now, she’s been here for a month. She’s been working a lot on her short game, and I think she’ll do really well.”
UCLA is set to tee off for 36 holes of golf Monday morning.
