THHEE HIISTORYSTORY OOFF UUCLACLA WOOMENMEN’S GOOLFLF rom its inception in the early 1970s, the UCLA women’s golf NCAAs and led the Bruins to a program has enjoyed much success. Beginning in 1971 when the 16th place fi nish that season. FBruins won the National Intercollegiate Championship to the 1991 In 1988 Valerie Pamard national championship that UCLA won under legendary coach Jackie earned All-America honors Steinmann, and continuing with the 2004 and 2011 NCAA titles won after sparking the Bruins to a under the stewardship of Carrie Forsyth, UCLA women’s golf has been 13th place fi nish. Jean Zedlitz synonymous with athletic and academic success. was UCLA’s highest NCAA Th e 1970-71 UCLA women’s golf team won UCLA’s fi rst national fi nisher that season, tying for championship in women’s athletics by defeating favored Arizona State 23rd place. by 18 shots. Th e event, hosted by the University of Georgia, featured Zedlitz earned All-America the two-player Bruin team of Janet Webber and Carol Ginder. Web- honors in 1989 and ’90. She tied ber fi nished second individually, losing in a sudden-death playoff , and for 24th place nationally, compet- Ginder captured fi fth. ing as an individual in 1989. A winning tradition was born. In 1990, the Bruins won Th e following year the Bruins competed in the Assn. of Inter- their fi rst Pac-10 title and placed collegiate Athletics for Women and paticipated in six AIAW Golf second nationally. Current coach Championships until the NCAA incorporated women’s athletics for Kay Cockerill, who won U.S. Carrie (Leary) Forsyth played the 1981-82 academic year. Women’s Amateur Championships in 11 of 12 events for this team Webber and Ginder played another four years for the Bruins with in 1985 and ’86, was UCLA’s fi rst as a non-scholarship freshman. Ginder serving as player-coach during the 1974-75 season after Joann All-American. Zedlitz and Elizabeth Bowman Martin, the Bruins’ fi rst coach, retired. earned fi rst-team all-conference In 1977, UCLA hired an obscure, local club champion, who played honors and Christy Erb was a second-team all-conference selection. golf when she wasn’t working as a professional ski instructor. Jackie In 1990-91, the Bruins won fi ve tournaments, their second straight Steinmann quickly propelled the Bruins into the national spotlight by Pac-10 title and freshman Lisa Kiggens won the conference individual leading them to a ninth place team fi nish in the 1979 AIAW Champion- title. Th e Bruins also won their fi rst NCAA team title and Erb captured ships. Playoff appearances, All-Americans and national rankings became second place. (See story below.) the norm under Steinmann’s leadership. From 1990-97, the Bruins participated in the NCAA Champion- Th e transition to NCAA competition proved seamless as the Bruins ship eight straight seasons, capturing the title once and fi nishing in the competed in the inaugural championship at Stanford in 1982 and placed Top 10 every season. seventh. Mary Enright was UCLA’s top fi nisher, capturing 26th place. In 1995-96, Steinmann engineered a defi ning achievement for Th e previous year, Enright had become UCLA’s fi rst USGA cham- UCLA Women’s Golf when the Bruins hosted the NCAA Championship pion, capturing the U.S. Women’s Amateur Public Links Championship at the La Quinta Resort in Palm Springs. Th at season, the Bruins enjoyed at Emerald Valley GC in Creswell, GA. one of their fi nest campaigns, winning four tournaments and placing A few months later, a scrawny freshman enrolled at UCLA as a among the Top 5 in seven others. Th ey posted 17 sub-300 scores, a school non-scholarship player and fi nished her career as one of the fi nest play- record at the time. Th e Bruins fi nished three shots behind Arizona for ers in school history. Kay Cockerill became UCLA’s fi rst female NCAA the NCAA title, but landed four players on the All-America team: Jenny golf All-American and won consecutive U.S. Amateur Championships Park, Kathy Choi, Amandine Vincent and Jeong Min Park. (1986 and ’87), while also becoming the program’s fi rst golf Academic On July 1, 1999, UCLA began a new era by hiring Leary (later All-American. Forsyth) as its second full-time head coach. In her fi nal two seasons, Cockerill led the Bruins to a pair of Top In 12 seasons, she has guided the Bruins to 11 straight NCAA 15 fi nishes at the NCAA Championship and placed fourth and sixth Championship berths, culiminating with the 2004 team title (see story individually. below). She led the Bruins to victories in the 2002, ’04, ’05, ’08, ’09 In 1999, she became the fi rst female golfer to be inducted into and ’11 NCAA Regionals, the 2004, ’05 and ’06 Pac-10 titles, and she UCLA’s Athletics Hall of Fame. has earned Pac-10 Coach of the Year honors four times. Th e Bruin tradition of success continued after Cockerill’s graduation. Forsyth has tutored 13 All-Americans, including four-time selection Kristal Parker, who played nearly 20 years on the LPGA Tour, earned Tiff any Joh and three-time fi rst-team selection Charlotte Mayorkas. All-America honors in 1987. She tied for 33rd place individually at the In 2002, freshman Yvonne Choe earned Pac-10 Newcomer of the 1991 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP SUMMARY UCLA won its fi rst NCAA title in school’s second NCAA golf team champion- women’s golf in 1991 at the Ohio State ship (the men won in 1988). University Scarlet Course. Th e Bruins won Individually, the Bruins’ Christy Erb fi ve tournaments that season, one shy of fi nished second to Arizona’s Annika Soren- the previous school record, and entered the stam. Erb’s 291 total was three-over par. Lisa tournament as one of the favorites to capture Kiggens fi nished in a tie for 13th at 300, and the team crown. Sugg tied for 16th at 301. Th e Bruins overcame a six-stroke defi cit Kiggens, Sugg and Debbi Koyama on the fi nal two holes to tie San Jose State earned All-America honors, while each of after 72 holes. those players plus Elizabeth Bowman was Th e teams began the fi rst-ever NCAA awarded All-Pac-10 honors. Championship sudden death playoff format, and on the fi rst extra hole, UCLA’s LaRee Sugg sank a 25-foot birdie putt to win the 1144 TTHREE-TIMEHREE-TIME NNCAACAA CCHAMPIONS:HAMPIONS: 11991,991, 22004,004, 22011011 THHEE HIISTORYSTORY OOFF UUCLACLA WOOMENMEN’S GOOLFLF Year honors after fi nishing in a tie for fourth mately fi nished as the runner-up. Th ree players, In 2008, Joh and freshman Maria Jose place at the conference championship tourna- including Cochran, earned All-America honors Uribe earned consensus fi rst-team All-America and Mayorkas and Mathews earned fi rst and honors, and Uribe tied for fi rst place at the 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 consecutive Pac-10 title (a fi rst in the program’s history) and captured four tourna- ment 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 addition, senior All-American Susie Mathews graduated with a 3.56 grade point average in communica- tions 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 Charlotte Mayorkas fi nish third nationally. Joh earned All-America honors for the ment. In 2004, Jun was awarded the same honor second straight year and freshman Sydnee after placing second in the conference cham- Michaels won the NCAA East Regional title pionship. Jun became the fi rst UCLA golfer with a school record score of 13-under par. to win the NCAA West Regional a few weeks Sophomore Ryann O’Toole earned a spot on later. In 2005, Joh was voted the conference’s the all-conference team along with Joh and Newcomer of the Year. Jun, who were fi rst and second team selections, Forsyth was named the 2004 NGCA respectively. Sydnee Michaels Coach of the Year after guiding the Bruins In 2007-08, the Bruins earned their eighth to seven tournament victories including the straight NCAA berth after winning their fourth conference, regional and national champion- regional championship in Forsyth’s tenure. NCAA Regional. In June, Joh won her second ships. Th e Bruins also won three other tournaments, U.S. Women’s Amateur Publinks title after In 2005, the Bruins were in contention to including the Regional Challenge in Palos tying for fi rst at the NCAA Championship. win a second national championship, but ulti- Verdes. Michaels and freshman Glory Yang were se- 2004 NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP SUMMARY Th e Bruins won their second NCAA lead, the Bruins watched their advantage title in women’s golf with a lot of heart shrink to nothing through the fi rst nine and hard work.