Eighty-two golfers from 15 schools competed in this week’s Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational in Seattle. Two of the top three
finishers were Wildcats.

Senior Alison Walshe entered yesterday’s final round in first place individually, and she held on to finish tied for first, shooting 4-over to bring her final score to 1-over 217.

“”I grinded it out,”” Walshe said. “”I hit as many fairways as possible.””

Walshe was in fifth place entering the second round, but five birdies brought her to first by the end of the day. Walshe, who won three tournaments last year, picked up her first victory of the fall season.

“”It feels really good (to get the win),”” she said. “”I’m happy with the way I played.””

Junior Adriana Zwanck leapt up from 10th place to third yesterday with a 2-under round.

“”It was surprising, coming from 10th place,”” Zwanck said. “”It’s a tough course. You have to stay focused.””

Like Walshe, Zwanck birdied five holes in her big round. Her 70 was the best score of the final day, as she was one of only three players to shoot under par in the round.

“”I played really solid (in the final round),”” Zwanck said. “”You have your days, and it was my day.””

The performances of Walshe and Zwanck helped Arizona achieve its best finish of the year – fourth place. The Wildcats finished the tournament at 38 over, shooting 13 over yesterday.

UA head coach Shelly Haywood said before the tournament began that she expected scores to be high due to the toughness of the Sahalee Country Club Course. As Haywood predicted, no team in the tournament finished under par.

Walshe was glad her and Zwanck’s performances led to the team improving in the standings as well, and said she felt that is the key to success as Arizona prepares for next week’s Stanford Fall Intercollegiate.

“”It’s really important,”” she said. “”Hopefully, next time we’ll get more girls in the top 10, and that could get us into first place.””