Arizona women’s golf came into the Allstate Sugar Bowl Invitational with potentially enough confidence to give them a first-place finish, which would be the first of the season. The Wildcats finished the tournament on Tuesday tied for fourth after shooting 892 strokes (+28) overall.
“The tournament was pretty successful overall,” Arizona women’s golf coach Laura Ianello said. “The girls had to deal with some weather conditions that made it tough to play in, but they played good.”
The Wildcats teed off the first round on Sunday and were one of two teams representing the Pac-12 Conference, along with UCLA. Arizona ended the first round in the middle of the pack at eighth place after shooting a 301 (+13).
Freshman Krystal Quihuis, the only Wildcat in the top 30 after Sunday, shot a 73 (+1) and ended the first round tied for 12th. Quihuis is coming off a strong performance in the Northrop Grumman Regional Challenge after the Tucson native finished tied for sixth place after shooting a two-over-par.
Quihuis collected five birdies in the second round, including three on the back nine. Quihuis shot a 69 (-3) and was the only Wildcat to shoot under par on Monday.
“Krystal has been a great asset to our team, and she has dramatically improved,” Ianello said. “Being a Tucson native and playing at Salpointe [High School], she always had a feel for our program.”
Quihuis was off in the final round and shot a 75 (+3). She still finished fourth overall, despite being caught off-track from the two previous rounds.
According to a UA press release, Quihuis has recorded two top-10 finishes in the spring.
Kendall Prince was one Wildcat who got better as the rounds progressed, not only the player leaderboard but also her overall performance. Prince made an eagle on the par-4 10th hole .
To go with an average second round, Prince made two birdies on two par-4’s on Tuesday. Prince ended the tournament as one of two Wildcats in the top 27, finishing with 228 overall strokes (+12).
Manon Gidali shot solid scores in the first two rounds but couldn’t break par in any round of the tournament. Gidali finished under par on the front nine in the first round and collected six total birdies in the first two rounds.
Gidali wasn’t far from Prince on the player leaderboard, as the veteran tied for 33rd place after shooting a toal 229 (+13).
Another notable Wildcat that finished tied for 35th place was Lindsey Weaver. Weaver played catch-up after the first round where she shot a 79 (+7).
Weaver quadruple bogeyed the par-4 fourth-hole and double bogeyed once on the back nine. Weaver would eventually finish with 230 total strokes (+14).
Arizona’s next event will be a two-day tournament in Sedona, Ariz., for the Red Rocks Invitational beginning on Saturday. The Wildcats will then take their talents to South Florida in Gainesville to defend the SunTrust Gator Women’s Golf Invitational on March 6.
“We’re playing with more confidence,” Ianello said, “and we’re definitely looking forward to defending our title in Gainesville.”
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