Ucla Women's Golf
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THE HISTORY OF UCLA WOMEN’S GOLF rom its inception in the early 1970s, the UCLA 16th place fi nish that season. women’s golf program has enjoyed much In 1988 Valerie Pamard earned All-America Fsuccess. Beginning in 1971 when the Bruins honors after sparking the Bruins to a 13th place won the National Intercollegiate Championship fi nish. Jean Zedlitz was UCLA’s highest NCAA to the 1991 national championship that UCLA fi nisher that season, tying for 23rd place. won under legendary coach Jackie Steinmann, and Zedlitz earned All-America honors in 1989 and continuing with the 2004 and 2011 NCAA titles ’90. She tied for 24th place nationally, competing won under the stewardship of Carrie Forsyth, UCLA as an individual in 1989. women’s golf has been synonymous with athletic In 1990, the Bruins won their fi rst Pac-10 title and academic success. and placed second nationally. Current coach Carrie Th e 1970-71 UCLA women’s golf team won (Leary) Forsyth played in 11 of 12 events for this UCLA’s fi rst national championship in women’s team as a non-scholarship freshman. Zedlitz and athletics by defeating favored Arizona State by Elizabeth Bowman earned fi rst-team all-conference 18 shots. Th e event, hosted by the University of honors and Christy Erb was a second-team all- Georgia, featured the two-player Bruin team of Janet conference selection. Webber and Carol Ginder. Webber fi nished second In 1990-91, the Bruins won fi ve tournaments, individually, losing in a sudden-death playoff , and their second straight Pac-10 title and freshman Lisa Ginder captured fi fth. Kiggens won the conference individual title. Th e A winning tradition was born. Bruins also won their fi rst NCAA team title and Erb Th e following year the Bruins competed in captured second place. (See story below.) the Assn. of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women From 1990-97, the Bruins participated in and paticipated in six AIAW Golf Championships the NCAA Championship eight straight seasons, until the NCAA incorporated women’s athletics for capturing the title once and fi nishing in the Top the 1981-82 academic year. 10 every season. Webber and Ginder played another four years In 1995-96, Steinmann engineered a defi ning for the Bruins with Ginder serving as player-coach achievement for UCLA Women’s Golf when the during the 1974-75 season after Joann Martin, the Kay Cockerill, who won U.S. Women’s Amateur Bruins hosted the NCAA Championship at the La Bruins’ fi rst coach, retired. Championships in 1985 and ’86, was UCLA’s fi rst Quinta Resort in Palm Springs. Th at season, the In 1977, UCLA hired an obscure, local club All-American. Bruins enjoyed one of their fi nest campaigns, win- champion, who played golf when she wasn’t working ning four tournaments and placing among the Top as a professional ski instructor. Jackie Steinmann and fi nished her career as one of the fi nest players 5 in seven others. Th ey posted 17 sub-300 scores, quickly propelled the Bruins into the national in school history. Kay Cockerill became UCLA’s a school record at the time. Th e Bruins fi nished spotlight by leading them to a ninth place team fi rst female NCAA golf All-American and won three shots behind Arizona for the NCAA title, fi nish in the 1979 AIAW Championships. Playoff consecutive U.S. Amateur Championships (1986 but landed four players on the All-America team: appearances, All-Americans and national rankings and ’87), while also becoming the program’s fi rst Jenny Park, Kathy Choi, Amandine Vincent and became the norm under Steinmann’s leadership. golf Academic All-American. Jeong Min Park. Th e transition to NCAA competition proved In her fi nal two seasons, Cockerill led the On July 1, 1999, UCLA began a new era by seamless as the Bruins competed in the inaugural Bruins to a pair of Top 15 fi nishes at the NCAA hiring Leary (later Forsyth) as its second full-time championship at Stanford in 1982 and placed Championship and placed fourth and sixth indi- head coach. seventh. Mary Enright was UCLA’s top fi nisher, vidually. In 13 seasons, she has guided the Bruins to 12 capturing 26th place. In 1999, she became the fi rst female golfer to straight NCAA Championship berths, culiminating Th e previous year, Enright had become UCLA’s be inducted into UCLA’s Athletics Hall of Fame. with the 2004 and 2011 team titles (see stories on the fi rst USGA champion, capturing the U.S. Women’s Th e Bruin tradition of success continued after following pages). She led the Bruins to victories in Amateur Public Links Championship at Emerald Cockerill’s graduation. Kristal Parker, who played the 2002, ’04, ’05, ’08, ’09 and ’11 NCAA Region- Valley GC in Creswell, GA. nearly 20 years on the LPGA Tour, earned All- als, the 2004, ’05 and ’06 Pac-10 titles, and she has A few months later, a scrawny freshman America honors in 1987. She tied for 33rd place earned Pac-10 Coach of the Year honors four times. enrolled at UCLA as a non-scholarship player individually at the NCAAs and led the Bruins to a Forsyth has tutored 16 diff erent All-Americans, 1991 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP SUMMARY UCLA won its fi rst NCAA title in women’s second to Arizona’s Annika Sorenstam. Erb’s 291 golf in 1991 at the Ohio State University Scarlet total was three-over par. Lisa Kiggens fi nished in a Course. Th e Bruins won fi ve tournaments that tie for 13th at 300, and Sugg tied for 16th at 301. season, one shy of the previous school record, and Kiggens, Sugg and Debbi Koyama earned All- entered the tournament as one of the favorites to America honors, while each of those players plus capture the team crown. Elizabeth Bowman was awarded All-Pac-10 honors. Th e Bruins overcame a six-stroke defi cit on the fi nal two holes to tie San Jose State after 72 holes. Th e teams began the fi rst-ever NCAA Cham- pionship sudden death playoff format, and on the fi rst extra hole, UCLA’s LaRee Sugg sank a 25-foot birdie putt to win the school’s second NCAA golf team championship (the men won in 1988). Individually, the Bruins’ Christy Erb fi nished 1155 22012-13012-13 UUCLACLA WWOMEN’SOMEN’S GGOLFOLF • NCAA CHAMPIONS: 1991, 2004, 2011 THE HISTORY OF UCLA WOMEN’S GOLF including four-time selection Tiff any Joh and In 2005, the Bruins were in contention to win June, Joh won her second U.S. Women’s Amateur three-time fi rst-team selection Charlotte Mayorkas. a second national championship, but ultimately Publinks title after tying for fi rst at the NCAA fi nished as the runner-up. Th ree players, including Championship. Michaels and freshman Glory Cochran, earned All-America honors and Mayorkas and Mathews earned fi rst and second team laurels, respectively. In addition, the Bruins won the Pac- 10 and NCAA West Regional titles for the second straight year and Forsyth was voted conference coach of the year for the third time. Th e Bruins in 2006 earned their sixth straight NCAA Championship berth, won their third con- secutive Pac-10 title (a fi rst in the program’s history) and captured four tournament titles. Four players earned All-Ameerica honors, one player earned Scholar All-America honors and two players were named to the Pac-10 All-Academic Team. In addi- tion, senior All-American Susie Mathews graduated with a 3.56 grade point average in communications and became the fi rst collegiate player to earn NGCA Scholar All-America honors four straight years. Th e Bruins played the 2006-07 season without Cochran and Park, two All-Americans who were expected to return, and still managed to earn their seventh straight NCAA berth and fi nish third nationally. Susie Mathews Joh earned All-America honors for the second straight year and freshman Sydnee Michaels won In 2002, freshman Yvonne Choe earned Pac-10 the NCAA East Regional title with a school record Newcomer of the Year honors after fi nishing in a score of 13-under par. Sophomore Ryann O’Toole tie for fourth place at the conference champion- earned a spot on the all-conference team along ship tournament. In 2004, Jun was awarded the with Joh and Jun, who were fi rst and second team same honor after placing second in the conference selections, respectively. championship. Jun became the fi rst UCLA golfer In 2007-08, the Bruins earned their eighth to win the NCAA West Regional a few weeks later. straight NCAA berth after winning their fourth Hannah Jun In 2005, Joh was voted the conference’s Newcomer regional championship in Forsyth’s tenure. Th e of the Year. Bruins also won three other tournaments, including Forsyth was named the 2004 NGCA Coach of the Regional Challenge in Palos Verdes. Yang were selected as second-team All-Americans, the Year after guiding the Bruins to seven tourna- In 2008, Joh and freshman Maria Jose Uribe and all four players were voted to the Pac-10 All- ment victories including the conference, regional earned consensus fi rst-team All-America honors, and Conference Team. and national championship titles. Uribe tied for fi rst place at the NCAA Regional. In As a result of her 2007 U.S. Women’s Amateur 2004 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP SUMMARY Th e Bruins won their second NCAA title in halted play (on Friday),” women’s golf with a lot of heart and hard work.