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Senior golfer John Merrick at last season’s NCAA Championships.

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The No. 3 UCLA men’s golf team traveled up to head coach O.D. Vincent’s old stomping grounds in search of their third consecutive tournament victory to start the season.

The Bruins came away largely disappointed.

A pesky Washington team lapped the field en route to a first-place finish at the Husky Invitational held on the Gold Mountain Olympic Course in Bremerton, Wash.

UCLA walked away in third place with a cumulative total of 31-over par for the three-round tournament, finishing 24 shots behind the Huskies and three shots behind second-place San Diego State University.

“We did not play well and we’re very disappointed with our performance,” Vincent said.

Washington’s Brock Mackenzie took home the individual crown with a stellar 8-under par performance, seven shots better than his closest competitor. The win was the fourth of Mackenzie’s career, and with it he surpassed none other than O.D. Vincent as the all-time event winner in Washington history.

“O.D. is someone I really respect, so it’s exciting to go ahead of him, but it’s not something I have spent a lot of time thinking about,” Mackenzie said in a press release.

“Brock is going to do a lot more than just win this tournament,” Vincent said.

The two Bruins who have tournament victories under their belts this year, senior John Merrick and junior John Poucher, continued their good play, each earning a top-10 finish.

Merrick finished tied for fifth place with 2-over par, while Poucher completed his tournament in a tie for eighth place at 4-over par.

“Poucher is a transformed player,” said Vincent of Poucher, whose play has dramatically escalated since this past spring. “It’s nice to see him playing with real confidence.”

Senior Steve Conway was the lone Bruin to post a sub-70 round, shooting a 4-under 68 in the final round to finish tied for 13th place at 5-over par.

Senior Travis Johnson, who entered the third round at even-par and tied for fifth place, tumbled down the leaderboard with an 80 in the final round, leaving him at 8-over par and in a tie for 23rd place for the tournament.

Highly touted freshman Chris Heintz and sophomore Breene Murphy finished 56th and 59th, respectively.

Senior and regular starter Roy Moon did not compete.

“Roy didn’t play in the tournament because he was the odd man out,” Vincent said. “The way the fall and qualifying sets up, we’re trying to give different players the chance to play.”

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