After a middling start to the year, the Bruins are looking to jump-start their season on familiar ground.
UCLA men’s golf will head to the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate Invitational in Alpharetta, Georgia, from Friday to Sunday, marking its fourth consecutive year appearing at the event. The Bruins, who have yet to place higher than eighth in their first three events of the year, will battle in a 14-team field as they seek their first win.
While the team has earned mixed finishes in Georgia over the past few seasons – coming 10th last year but second the year before that – coach Armen Kirakossian said his group’s knowledge of the course will give them something to prepare with.
“Fortunately, we know the golf course well that we’re going to,” Kirakossian said. “We’ll try to simulate shots that we think will be required.”
The Lakeside Course at the Golf Club of Georgia runs 7,017 yards and has a par of 72. Kirakossian said the course’s four par-3s will be a point of focus in the team’s preparations, which sophomore Josh Kim said would include dialing in accuracy with short irons.
Kim – the Big Ten Freshman of the Year last season – led the Bruins two weeks ago at the Fighting Irish Classic, when he came 15th with a 1-over 211. A different golfer has led UCLA at each event so far, with senior Alex Papayoanou and junior Baylor Larrabee placing highest at the Sahalee Players Championship and the Ben Hogan Collegiate, respectively.
If par-3s determine the outcome, the Bruins’ recent performance could be indicative of success.
At the Ben Hogan, UCLA led the field in scoring on par-3s, dropping only four strokes to par on the short holes across the three rounds Sept. 28-29.
Kim said the team’s short game would be another point of focus ahead of the weekend.
“Coach has made a pretty big emphasis on scoring,” Kim said. “In order to score, we have to start hitting shots a little bit closer instead of playing a little bit conservative.”
The Bruins have yet to find the gear they were racing in toward the end of last season, but past results indicate their fortunes could change rapidly. UCLA opened the second half of last season with finishes of 8th, 14th, 12th and 9th, before flipping the script and finding the first-place spot at the Big Ten Championship en route to a second-place finish nationally.
Only two ranked teams stand in the way of UCLA: No. 24 Clemson and host No. 15 Georgia Tech. The reigning winner of the event, Virginia, who vied for last year’s national championship alongside UCLA, will also be seeking a spark to light its thus-far weak season.
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