After what head coach Laura Ianello called the most impressive performance of the season, the No. 7 Arizona women’s golf team is flying high into next month’s NCAA Regional Championships.
Arizona finished second in last weekend’s Pacific 10 Conference Golf Championship, held at ASU’s Karsten Golf Course — placing ahead of No. 3 UCLA and falling five strokes short of No. 1 Southern California.
“”We hadn’t played well as a team, and it was beating up our confidence a little bit,”” Ianello said. “”This week was so important because it proved to the girls they can beat those teams from California. Some people might think they seem invincible, but that’s crap. We’re just as good as them, if not better, when we play well.””
Though Ianello called the second-place finish “”gut wrenching,”” she was pleased to see the team finally live up to its potential.
“”They wanted to win and knew they could if they played well,”” she said. “”We did play well but fell a little short to USC. Second place is not a horrible finish. Our conference is loaded. Really out of all 10 teams, five can win every week.””
Ianello had been telling her team how good they had the potential to be all season, but she said that it’s hard for them to believe her until they see results on the course.
“”I’ve told them that they’re the team that should win each week, because they are that good,”” Ianello said. “”I think they can say that they believe it, but I think now, finally, they’re starting to realize just how good they are. You can have someone tell you how great you are, but until you see it yourself, you’re not going to believe it.””
Junior Isabelle Boineau has been Arizona’s most consistent performer throughout the year, but sophomore Kyndall Ardoin, who shot a 1-over-par 217, impressed Ianello during the weekend.
“”As a sophomore not having a lot of college experience, she’s really stepped up her game and improved,”” Ianello said.
Arizona will learn this week what region it will be in for the NCAA Regional Championships, which run May 5 through 7.
