UCLA
Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate Invitational
Men’s Golf Finishes in Second Place at Golf Club of Georgia
October 18, 2024 | Men's Golf
ALPHARETTA, Ga. – The UCLA men's golf team finished second out of 14 teams this weekend, competing at the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate Invitational.
After posting consecutive scores of 8-under 280 in rounds one and two, on Friday and Saturday, UCLA scored 9-under 279 in the final round on Sunday afternoon. The Bruins' finished the invitational at 25-under 839, just three strokes behind tournament champion Duke (28-under 836).
Duke scored an invitational-best 17-under 271 on Sunday in the final round to move into first place. Rounding out the top five teams at the collegiate invitational were Virginia (19-under 845), Charlotte (13-under 851) and USC (4-under 860).
"This was a really strong weekend, a strong showing for us at a bigtime golf tournament with a really strong field of golf teams," said UCLA head coach Armen Kirakossian. "I'm definitely proud of the way they played and competed. It's a tough one to swallow when you go into the final round leading and you shoot a good round. I felt like we did what we needed to do. But Duke came out and just played an unbelievable round of golf, so hats off to them. I really liked how we responded from a couple of weeks ago at Notre Dame when we were in the final group and we came out and didn't have our best stuff. I think that our guys took a lot from that and learned. We turned around and sure enough, the very next tournament, we are in the final group again with a one-shot lead. The guys this time came out and played a really strong, solid round of golf."
Senior Omar Morales (7-under 209) finished in a tie for fifth place at the three-day tournament. After carding 5-under 67 in the first round (Friday), he shot 1-under 71 in the second and third rounds.
In all, UCLA finished with three of the invitational's top 14 individual scores. In addition to Morales (T-5th), senior Pablo Ereño and junior Kyle An concluded the weekend among the top 14 finishers. Ereño scored 5-under 211 at the invitational, while An carded 4-under 212. Both Ereño and An finished Sunday's third round at 4-under 68 as the Bruins' best day-three individual performers.
An's performance marked the second time in as many season in which he finished T-11 or better in a tournament. As a sophomore last season, An also tied for 11th place at the Hamptons Intercollegiate (Oct. 2023).
Rounding out the leaderboard for UCLA, sophomore Luke Powell and freshman Baylor Larrabee shot 1-under 215 at the Golf Club of Georgia. Powell finished at even par (72) on Sunday, while Larrabee carded 1-over 73.
"Our guys looked really comfortable and were competing hard," Kirakossian said. "They never gave up until the end, even though with a couple of holes to play we were about four or five back and we closed the gap a little bit. We had some opportunities to get it tighter, but we just didn't convert on them. Overall, it was a great week, a spectacular week, and now we've got a few days before we turn around for our last tournament of the year at The Preserve, a tournament that we finished second at last year. We're looking to go there and hopefully get a win."
The Bruins will conclude their fall schedule competing at The Preserve Golf Club Collegiate in San Luis Obispo, Calif., on Oct. 28-29.
Day Two: Bruins Move Into First Place at Golf Club of Georgia
UCLA shot 8-under 280 for the second consecutive day, moving atop leaderboard.
The UCLA men's golf team finished in first place out of 14 teams, through two rounds, competing at the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate Invitational on Saturday.
UCLA matched its strong effort from Friday, shooting 8-under 280 on the second day of action. The Bruins (16-under 560) currently maintain a one-stroke lead over second-place Virginia (15-under 561) and a five-stroke advantage over third-place Duke (11-under 565). UCLA's 8-under 280 score on Saturday was the best second-round team score of any participating program.
Looking at the individual leaderboard, Bruins' senior Omar Morales (t-3rd) and freshman Baylor Larrabee (t-10th) currently stand among the top 12 golfers through two rounds. Larrabee and sophomore Luke Powell each carded a score of 4-under 68 on Saturday. Larrabee completed the second round with four birdies and no bogeys. Powell registered six birdies and two bogeys, recording birdies on three consecutive holes (10, 11 and 12).
Morales retained his strong position with a score of 1-under 71 on Saturday, entering Sunday's final round with a cumulative score of 6-under 138. Junior Kyle An shot 1-over 73 in the second round, while senior Pablo Ereño rounded out the Bruins' participants with a score of 3-over 75.
Larrabee has shot 2-under 142 through the opening two rounds, entering Sunday's third round in a three-way tie for 10th place. Powell and Ereño (both 1-under 143) are currently tied for 13th place with 10 other individuals). An will enter the third day of competition with a score of 1-over 145 (t-26th).
Day One: Men's Golf Opens Play at Golf Club of Georgia
Morales tied for second place in the individual leaderboard after one round.
The UCLA men's golf team finished in second place out of 14 teams in the opening round of the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate Invitational on Friday, having shot 8-under 280 on day one.
Bruins' seniors Omar Morales and Pablo Ereño finished among the top seven on the individual leaderboard in Friday's opening round. Morales shot 5-under 67, currently in a three-way tie for second place. Ereño finished the first round at 4-under 68, tied in fifth place (with two others) at the Golf Club of Georgia.
The Bruins finished the opening round in second place (8-under 280), just one stroke behind first-place Virginia (9-under 279). Rounding out the top five teams from the first round were Duke (5-under 283), Charlotte (4-under 284) and Vanderblit (3-under 285).
UCLA junior Kyle An shot 1-under 71, resting in a tie for 14th place, while freshman Baylor Larrabee carded a 2-over 74 on the first day of action (t-41st). Sophomore Luke Powell shot 3-over 75 (t-50th) to round out the group of five Bruins.
Morales had a strong opening round on Friday after having won the second medal of his collegiate career at this event last fall. He secured a co-championship at the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate Invitational in Oct. 2023, scoring 11-under par. Morales became the third UCLA golfer to have medaled at the Golf Club of Georgia Collegiate, joining Eddy Lai (2019) and Erik Flores (2009).
