The UCLA men’s golf team will participate in The Thunderbird Collegiate at Papago Golf Club in Phoenix on April 10 and 11. The event features nine teams, including several ranked among the top 50 nationally.
This tournament is significant for UCLA as it provides an opportunity to build momentum heading into the postseason, particularly with the Big Ten Championships approaching in early May. Last season, UCLA finished seventh out of ten teams at this event.
Head coach Armen Kirakossian said, “This is an event that our guys always love to participate in, and the staff here in Arizona does a great job with the Thunderbird Collegiate. It’s a great time of the year for us with the Masters going on, all of our guys following that, and the tournament puts a big TV screen out on the middle of the golf course. So it feels like we’ve got two tournaments happening at the same time. This is an event that we’ve had some feast or famine result, finishing second against a really stacked field two years ago, and then last season we finished seventh. Our guys like playing at this golf course. It is somewhat weather-dependent, but it really does matter if the wind starts to pick up and the golf course tends to dry out. That can be complicated. If the wind dies down, then it can be very scorable. You need to be able to make adjustments on the fly. I’m not sure if there is a tournament that will have a larger disparity, from the morning round to the afternoon – how far the ball goes, the temperature difference. But you have to make in-round adjustments as your day goes on. That’s something we have tried to prepare for the best that we can. We try to teach the new guys that.”
Kirakossian also commented on individual players: “As far as our individuals go, Josh is coming off his best tournament as a Bruin so far at Stanford,” he said. “He will look to continue to build upon that momentum. Kyle had a big final round for us at Stanford, and we are looking for him to build on that a bit. Baylor had a nice finish at North Ranch. He’s looking to get a nice result under his belt and get some momentum here as we gear up for the Big Ten Tournament.” He added: “It’s a fun week, and we want to see if we can build upon that momentum from Stanford as our team gets closer to postseason.”
UCLA’s lineup includes Tyler Loree, Josh Kim (who has posted back-to-back top-15 finishes), Baylor Larrabee, Kyle An (senior), and Alex Papayoanou (junior). Matthew Yamin will compete individually.
The Bruins recently placed second out of thirty teams at The Goodwin held March 26-28; freshman Josh Kim tied for sixth place while senior Kyle An and junior Alex Papayoanou both registered top-20 finishes.
The Thunderbird Collegiate has been held annually since 1973; UCLA last won this title in 1998.
