The Bruins are hoping to lean on past experience as they swing into their only match play event of the year.
No. 9 UCLA women’s golf will compete against No. 14 USC in the Battle for the Bell at Bel-Air Country Club on Thursday. Last year was the inaugural competition, in which the Bruins defeated their crosstown rivals after two days of match play.
The Bruins are on the heels of a victory at the Windy City Collegiate Classic, where they managed to match the program’s 54-hole record.
Coach Alicia Um Holmes said she plans to remind the team of what it did well at the Windy Classic.
“I will get them focusing on keeping their strengths strong and maybe chipping away at some of their weaknesses,” Um Holmes said. “But definitely reminding the team to remember their good shots.”
Unlike last year, where the Battle for the Bell was a two-day, two-match event, this year will feature a one-day, one-match affair.
Junior Zoe Antoinette Campos – whose two-stroke and one-stroke victories helped the Bruins defeat the Trojans last season – said this year’s team has similar strengths to last year’s.
“We are all really good ball strikers,” Campos said. “We all have the capability of being good match-play players.”
Alongside Campos, junior Caroline Canales clinched a win in both of her matches against USC in this event – one of three UCLA players to achieve this feat.
Canales said the key to success in match-play events is to keep the ball in regulation.
“In match-play, for me, hitting lots of fairways and hitting lots of greens to keep putting that constant pressure on your opponent is really important,” Canales said. “If you are giving away shots, being sloppy and missing greens, it’s easier to lose holes.”
Beyond Campos and Canales, this Thursday’s lineup will feature sophomore Meghan Royal, senior Kate Villegas and junior Tiffany Le.
Villegas competed in multiple match-play events over the summer, including the SCGA Women’s Amateur. Out of her past 18 matches, she has won 17.
Um Holmes said Villegas’s match-play strengths come from her confidence in these events.
“She knows she is a steady player, so she doesn’t have to do anything special out there,” Um Holmes said. “She just plays her game, hits fairways and greens, and then waits for her opponents to make mistakes. That is going to lend well to this upcoming match.”
Canales also competed in summer events, seeing the round of 32 during the 123rd U.S. Women’s Amateur at the Bel-Air Country Club – where the Battle for the Bell will be taking place.
The Calabasas native said both her competitive and practice rounds at Bel-Air will aid in her upcoming performance.
“I’ve played matches against my teammates there in practice all the time because it is one of our home courses,” Canales said. “We have slightly more of a home-course advantage.”
UCLA will tee off at 1:10 p.m. on Thursday to try and defend its victory.
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