The road back to the national championship is not always easy.
But the Bruins are headed back.
UCLA men’s golf placed second in the NCAA regional in Corvallis, Oregon, from May 18-20, shooting a 14-under 838 at the Trysting Tree Golf Club to beat the top-five cut and secure a spot in the NCAA championship. The Bruins will make their second straight national championship appearance in Carlsbad, California, after a seven-year drought.
The team’s performance was its best at a regional since 2013, but success was far from certain after the first day of the event. Despite being only three strokes off the cut line and 11 off the lead, the Bruins were tied for 10th place, with a tight field of teams ahead of them fighting to stay afloat.
“Our guys, credit to them, they didn’t panic at all,” said coach Armen Kirakossian. “They didn’t seem too stressed out, and that honestly gave me a lot of comfort and confidence.”
That confidence was well placed, as UCLA climbed up to fourth place on the second day, led by senior Kyle An’s 4-under 67 round, which had no bogeys and featured an eagle. An said the team was helped by its experience in comeback situations.
“We just had to finish strong,” An, who eventually finished with a team-leading 6-under 207, said. “That was the message – keep fighting for every shot.”
An’s performance was particularly significant given the advance-or-go-home nature of the event. As a senior, he was potentially playing his final collegiate contest at the regional, and An said he was excited to extend his collegiate career by one more week.
His veteran status could give him a leg up at the national championship, which takes place at the Omni La Costa Resort and Spa, a course closed off to NCAA golfers throughout the year. An is one of the players who competed at last year’s tournament. Kirakossian said An, along with UCLA’s other returners, have been coaching their younger teammates on how to approach the high-intensity environment and difficult greens at nationals.
Two of those postseason rookies are freshmen Josh Kim and Tyler Loree, who tied for 13th in Corvallis with 4-under 209s. Kim was the unanimous Big Ten Freshman of the Year, and Loree led the Bruins on the third day in their charge up to second place, with neither golfer recording a score worse than a bogey throughout the regional competition.
“Our guys did a really good job of keeping doubles off the scorecard,” Kirakossian said.
Kirakossian added that although the course did not demand the same level of driver accuracy – one of UCLA’s strengths – as other Oregon courses where the team has achieved success, the Bruins’ steady leaderboard progression indicated the layout was still somewhat favorable to the team.
Oklahoma – which led the Corvallis competition – Arkansas, Purdue and San Diego earned national championship bids alongside UCLA and will join the 30-team field in Carlsbad. An said the highest stage will still demand the same preparation as usual, although the event will carry a new weight of finality.
“It’s definitely a little emotional, knowing it’s my last tournament, but at the same time, it’s been a great chapter in my life,” An said.
Kirakossian said the Bruins will spend the few days before the competition working on specific shots around the green and ensuring that their mental game is as sharp as possible before heading to Carlsbad.
“When we tee off, our goal is to stick to our game plan, to compete as hard as we can, to give it everything on every single shot and leave it all out there,” Kirakossian said. “If we do that, we’ll be in a really good position by the end of this thing.”
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