Arizona women’s golf teed off at home for the first time of the spring season and finished in second place behind the top team in the country, Southern California, at the Wildcat Invitational. The ninth-ranked Wildcats shot an 845 (-19), which set a school record over 54 holes.
The previous record was from the 2012 Wildcat Invitational when the Wildcats shot 851 strokes (-13).
Finishing in second place in front of the home crowd at Sewailo Golf Club (Par 72) would also continue a streak of placing a top-five finish as a team of the spring season.
Junior Lindsey Weaver earned a runner-up finish after the struggling second team all-American shot under par for every round of the tournament. Weaver shot 67 strokes (-5) on the first day and was tied for first place with fellow Wildcat Wanasa Zhou and a pair of USC players.
Weaver would finish the final two rounds five-under-par to finish the home event at 206 strokes (-10). Weaver’s score is tied for second all-time in program history behind former Wildcat and Ladies Professional Golf Association great Lorena Ochoa.
“Lindsey has had a very mediocre spring season, and I say that only because of the potential that she can play at being a second team all-American,” Arizona coach Laura Ianello said. “So, the way she performed at Sewailo was great for her confidence. We’ve had success this spring with our other players. So, having an experienced player like Lindsey perform well is definitely a good attribution moving forward.”
Freshman Krystal Quihuis has had the most impressive season for Arizona after finishing fourth at the Allstate Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate and tying for sixth place at the SunTrust Gator Women’s Golf Invitational, which helped the Wildcats win back-to-back events in Florida.
Quihuis placed another top-10 finish in ninth with a 214 (-2) and carding rounds of 74, 70 and 70.
Zhou finished in eighth place after shooting 212 strokes (-4). Zhou was in the hunt and tied with Southern Cal’s Kyung Kim and Karen Chung for first place. Zhou assisted the Wildcats to a first-place finish after the first day in which Arizona had a three-stroke cushion over the No. 1 USC squad.
“USC is number one in the country, and we showed the rest of the country that we are capable of competing for not only the conference but the NCAA Championship,” Ianello said. “Our conference is very strong, and I am pleased with the pace we are playing at.”
Arizona is rolling right now and is on track to have a season to remember, especially with Weaver posting a score tied with a player as talented as Ochoa. The promising underclassmen in Zhou and Quihuis mixed with veterans such as Manon Gidali and Weaver makes Wildcats eligible to compete in May.
Arizona will take a few days off before getting back into the groove and competing at the PING/ASU Invitational in Tempe from April 10-12.
“We’ll take a few days off, but we’ll hit practice hard and get ready for a big tournament in two weeks at ASU, Ianello said, “and we’re going to get back at playing good golf.”
_______________
Follow Justin Spears on Twitter.
