UCLA
Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational
Bruins Finish Strong in Texas
October 30, 2012 | Women's Golf
Oct. 30, 2012
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The UCLA Women's Golf team finished their final round in style at the Longhorn Invitational today, posting their best score of the year and jumping four spots up on the leaderboard into 8th place. The Bruins shot 289 (+1) on day three, finishing one stroke behind Arkansas for the low score of the round as the Bruins' final flurry left UCLA with a three-day total of 894 (+30) and slid them ahead of Pepperdine, UNLV, and Kent State.
UCLA, playing with only four players for the second time this year, got a solid individual effort from every member on the team. In particular, sophomore Erynne Lee took the lead once more, recovering from a double bogey on 18 to register six birdies and finish at 68 (-4) on the day. Lee's score, the lowest of the day for any player and her best on the year, launched her into a tie for third atop the individual leaderboard at 211 (-5) for the tournament. Lee's final placing is the highest individual finish for a Bruin so far in 2012-13.
The other Bruins didn't finish far behind, however. Junior Ani Gulugian shot a 73 (+1), her lowest score of the tourney by three strokes. Gulugian would finish with a three-hole score of 226 (+10), tied for 42nd. Senior Lee Lopez and freshman Louise Ridderstrom both turned in strong performances as well, as each registered their best scores of the tournament by shooting a 74 (+2). Lopez would wind up at with the second lowest 54-hole total for the Bruins, at 225 (+9), and Ridderstrom finished her tournament at 232 (+16).
Elsewhere in the tourney, the team leaderboard remained largely unchanged. Florida, ranked by Golfweek as the sixth-best team in the nation, took top honors via tiebreaker as the Gators finished even with #9 Alabama once more, each scoring 290 (+2) on the final day and finishing 863 for the tournament. Arkansas took third, as the Razorbacks managed to finish at 288 (E) after each round of competition to post a final score of 864 (E). #10 Arizona State dropped to fourth, shooting 293 (+5) on the final day to finish at 869 (+5) after 54 holes. The next closest competitor, Tulsa University, finished 14 strokes off the pace.
The Longhorn Invite represented the Bruins' final tournament of the year. The UCLA Women will be back in action in 2013, starting with Erynne Lee's appearance at the Copa de la Americas in Florida, Jan 3-6, followed by the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge in February at the Palos Verdes Golf Club.
Players Mentioned
