The Victory Bell is staying in Westwood.
No. 9 UCLA women’s golf defeated No. 14 USC in the second annual Battle for the Bell at Bel-Air Country Club on Thursday. In the one-day, one-round match play event, the Bruins won four out of the five head-to-head battles.
Coach Alicia Um Holmes said the team is excited to have defeated its rival.
“It feels awesome,” Um Holmes said. “Anytime we can beat the Trojans, it’s a good day. We were very pleased to keep the bell in Westwood and keep it blue.”
Toward the end of the front nine, USC was up in three of the five matches. But with a back-nine surge by UCLA, it was able to emerge victorious.
Both senior Kate Villegas and junior Tiffany Le won five holes each on the back nine to drive home the Bruins’ victory.
Le said her play in the latter half was driven by her confidence.
“I was getting more confident with my game and playing against my opponent,” Le said. “With that mental edge, I was able to stay in my process and stay present while my opponent was out there making the mistakes.”
The lineup saw a game time change, with freshman Jennifer Seo stepping into the fray to compete in place of junior Caroline Canales. This also marked Seo’s first collegiate tournament.
Seo said this first tournament was a good marker of the team’s skill.
“It showed that we can defeat our rivals,” Seo said. “But they also have a good team, which means we also are a better team and we have a good team overall this season.”
Seo won her match 1-up, with the final hole finishing in a tie because she and her opponent could not finish because of darkness.
Alongside Seo, junior Zoe Antoinette Campos, Villegas and Le each won their matches.
Um Holmes said the success of Villegas and Le came from their play in the second half of the day.
“They won five holes on the back nine,” Um Holmes said. “That was key to our win. Before the back nine, the matches were going back and forth, and it was a little too close for comfort. But those two really turned it around for our team.”
With this event being match play rather than stroke play, it mirrors the format of the finals for the NCAA championship. In the NCAA championship, the final eight teams compete in a match play bracket to determine the overall champion.
Le said the Battle for the Bell will prove to be good practice if the team makes it past the stroke play portion of the final tournament of the season.
“With some of us having background experience in match play with Battle for the Bell and other outside tournaments, that will give us some momentum and edge against other teams who don’t have as much experience in match play,” Le said. “That strategy of having a sharper mental game than other teams will allow us to play better.”
The Bruins will return to action Oct. 20 at the Stanford Intercollegiate for their last tournament of the fall season.
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