The No. 12 Arizona women’s golf team wrapped up a trip to the Pacific Northwest yesterday, finishing fifth of 15 teams by shooting a 60-over-par 924 at the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational played the past three days in Seattle.
The Wildcats came out of the gate fast on the first day, shooting a 13-over 301 in their opening round, and entered the clubhouse in a second-place tie.
They trailed No. 2 ASU by two strokes, and confidence was high, as the team was within striking distance to claim its first tournament victory of the year.
Then the wheels fell off.
The Wildcats struggled mightily on the second day and saw five teams move past them on the leader board. Instead of building on the positive momentum created the previous day, the team fell out of contention by shooting a 25-over 313.
Arizona entered the final round 14 shots behind the new tournament leader, No. 17 Stanford. The Wildcats shot a 22-over 310, an improvement from the second day but nowhere near what was needed to mount a comeback.
The Wildcats were no match for the Cardinal in the final stanza, nor was any other team, for that matter. Stanford shot a blistering 8-over 296, the lowest round of the tournament, and took home the title with a six-stroke victory and an overall total score of 32-over 896. New Mexico finished in second place with a final tally of 38-over 90, and No. 2 ASU rounded out the top three with a 40-over 904.
Stanford’s Mari Chun claimed individual honors and was the only competitor to finish under par. She finished at 1-under and had a 56-hole total of 215. Her opening-round 4-under 68 kept Stanford in contention and carried her to the individual title.
Arizona was led by junior Mary Jacobs, who finished the tournament in 19th place with a final score of 13-over 229. After shooting 1-over the first day, Jacobs shot 6-over each of the last two days.
Sophomore Amanda Wilson rebounded from a rough first day to finish tied for 25th place. She ended the tournament with a 16-over 232.
Three weeks after winning the individual title in the team’s opening tournament in Nashville, Tenn., and being named Golfweek magazine’s women’s golf Player of the Week, junior Alison Walshe struggled on the links. She could not duplicate her opening performance and finished in a tie for 28th place with a 17-over 233.
Sophomore Adriana Zwanck shot a 20-over 236, while redshirt senior Rachel Gavin tallied a 26-over 242 to finish in 35th and 51st place, respectively.
Arizona next hits the course for the Stanford Pepsi Intercollegiate Oct. 20-22 in Palo Alto, Calif.
