The UCLA men’s golf team, ranked No. 21 nationally, was defeated by No. 30 Arizona in the Copper Cup championship match held at El Niguel Country Club in Laguna Niguel, California, on Tuesday. The final score was 7-5 in favor of Arizona.
UCLA managed five wins out of twelve matches against Arizona, with four victories coming during the afternoon singles session. Bruins golfers Josh Kim, Tyler Loree, Alex Papayoanou, and Logan Kim each secured a point for their team.
In the morning alternate shot matches, Alex Papayoanou and Matthew Yamin won against Arizona’s Dillon Dean and Connor Hamm. This was UCLA’s only victory in that session.
Earlier in the tournament, UCLA advanced to the final after defeating USC 7.5-3.5 in the first round on Monday.
UCLA is scheduled to compete next at the Southwestern Invitational from January 26 to 28 at North Ranch Country Club in Westlake Village, California. This venue is notable as it hosted UCLA’s first national championship win in 1988.
Match results from Tuesday are as follows:
Morning Alternate Shot Matches:
– William Wistrand/Matej Baca (Arizona) defeated Tyler Loree/Trevor Garus (UCLA), 1UP
– Alex Papayoanou/Matthew Yamin (UCLA) defeated Dillon Dean/Connor Hamm (Arizona), 5&3
– Zach Pollo/Tianyi Xiong (Arizona) defeated Kyle An/Luciano Conlan (UCLA), 1UP
– Taishi Moto/Filip Jakubcik (Arizona) defeated Baylor Larrabee/Logan Kim (UCLA), 5&4
Afternoon Singles Matches:
– William Wistrand (Arizona) defeated Trevor Garus (UCLA), 7&6
– Josh Kim (UCLA) defeated Matej Baca (Arizona), 3&2
– Tyler Loree (UCLA) defeated Finn McCall (Arizona), 2&1
– Connor Hamm (Arizona) defeated Matthew Yamin (UCLA), 3&2
– Alex Papayoanou (UCLA) defeated Tianyi Xiong (Arizona), 2UP
– Logan Kim (UCLA) defeated Taishi Moto (Arizona), 4&3
– Filip Jakubcik (Arizona) defeated Kyle An (UCLA), 1UP
– Zach Pollo (Arizona) defeated Baylor Larrabee (UCLA), 6&5
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