This post was updated Feb. 5 at 10:43 p.m.
For the first time in women’s golf history, the bell is coming to Westwood.
No. 23 UCLA competed in the inaugural Battle for the Bell match play event against USC at nearby courses Sherwood Country Club and Rolling Hills Country Club on Wednesday and Thursday, respectively. The blue and gold ultimately reigned victorious by winning 8-of-12 matches for a score of 8.5 to 3.5.
Sophomore Caroline Canales was one of three Bruins to win her match on both days, but started the first day dropping the first two holes to her Trojan opponent.
Canales said patience with her strokes and mental game allowed her to overcome this deficit.
“Losing the first two holes in a row is never a good start,” Canales said. “I think staying patient and prioritizing just hitting the fairway, like putting the drive in the fairway, and then hitting the green, so it would force her to hit it really close to the pin and make a putt to win the hole, really helped to minimize the damage.”
Canales ultimately came back to win the Wednesday match 2UP, along with her teammates redshirt sophomore Alessia Nobilio, senior Yuki Yoshihara and sophomore Zoe Antoinette Campos.
On Wednesday, the weather conditions were windier and chillier, adding to the already present obstacles found on the course.
Graduate student Phoebe Yue said the Sherwood course had smaller greens and longer roughs to play out of.
“If you don’t hit the fairway, your second shot is going to be in a pretty tough lie,” Yue said. “The grass was super long, and it was super windy.”
Unlike many of the blue and gold’s prior tournaments, this contest was a match play event played against just one other team. Not only was the match against a singular team, but it was against the Bruins’ crosstown rival – the Trojans.
Canales said the rivalry brings a different type of competitive nature to the contest.
“There’s a slight added pressure playing against the crosstown rivals,” Canales said. “It’s posted on social media. There’s such a big rivalry, and we are definitely aware of that. However, it’s not the national championships, so we were also mindful of that.”
Another difference between this event and UCLA’s previous tournaments is that the Bruins played with six people in their lineup rather than five. Coach Carrie Forsyth said this was a result of the tournament being a different format.
The blue and gold secured its win on Thursday, taking four of the six match ups. Yue bounced back from her loss the day prior and won her match 5&3.
The graduate student said her strength throughout the match was her shots to the green, especially during Thursday’s matchup.
“I was able to hit it pretty close and give myself a lot of birdie putts,” Yue said. “It always makes things a little easier and it also puts some pressure on my opponent.”
While this was the first year the Bruins and Trojans competed in a Battle for the Bell on the golf course, Forsyth said the tournament was a major success.
“I feel like the players really enjoyed it,” Forsyth said. “We played two fantastic golf courses, and I don’t think there is much that I would change because I think it worked out very nicely.”
The Bruins will return to action on Feb. 12 at Palos Verdes Golf Club to participate in the Therese Hession Regional Challenge.
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