In the past week, the University of Arizona men’s golf team participated in five qualifying rounds in order to earn a chance to play in New Mexico this Friday and Saturday.
While all 14 players from the men’s team participated in the qualifier, only the top eight will be selected by Arizona head coach Jim Anderson to advance to play in New Mexico.
Of those eight players, three will submit their individual scores and the remaining five will count as an overall combined team score during the tournament. The qualifier featured rounds at Gallery South AZ National at Dove Mountain and the final two rounds took place at Arizona’s home course Sewailo Golf Club.
UA freshman and Tucson native Trevor Werbylo finished 16 under par over the course of the 5 rounds putting him at the top of the leader board among his teammates. Werbylo finished with a combined total score of 341 over the course of 90 holes. At the AZ National course, Werbylo shot an impressive 61 for the day.
Junior Dylan Stein finished in second place among teammates with a total score of 345, putting him at 12 under par over the course of the qualifier.
Senior George Cunningham placed third with a total score of 351 and 6 under par for 90 holes. With Cunningham being one of four seniors on the team this year, coach Anderson looks for him to be a leader this year both on and off the course.
“I think several guys will lead our team in different ways this year. George Cunningham brings the most experience and he is as capable of a player as any in college golf,” Anderson said. “We have newer faces to our program who have demonstrated skills on the course and in the team environment which gives us much optimism for the year.”
Looking ahead, the ‘Cats will play in their first tournament of the season at the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The tournament will take place this Friday, Sept. 22 and Saturday, Sept. 23.
“We will need to be ready to adjust to the speed on the course because the greens in Albuquerque will be rolling very fast,” Anderson said. “Also, the grass types are slightly different, so chipping in the heavy rough around greens is something we will emphasize when we get on site.”
Following this weekend, the ‘Cats will head to Portland, Oregon from Oct. 1-3 to compete in the NCI Invitational.
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