Arizona women’s golf will host the Pac-12 Conference Championship for the first time since 2006.
Tee time is slated for 8 a.m. on Monday, April 24, at Sewailo Golf Club at Casino Del Sol in Tucson.
The Pac-12 alternates hosts every year to a different Pac-12 school with Utah being the exception.
“It is definitely a little harder on our home course because we are expecting so much,” said sophomore Haley Moore.
While the Wildcats have high expectations of themselves, they also know the advantages their home course has.
“Ball placement and knowing where to hit on the greens are advantages we have,” said Moore. “And if the wind picks up, we know how it affects the course.”
Heading into the conference championship, Arizona is No. 13 in the country according to Golfweek.
“I think we started off slow this season, but we have definitely got our lineup going heading into post season,” said sophomore Gigi Stoll. “We have a good momentum heading into this tournament and into postseason.”
While Arizona plays at courses across the Tucson area, the Wildcats home course is at Sewailo Golf Club and is a factor they can use to master their game plan.
“We have played the course a lot more these past two weeks just to get our own individual game plans,” Stoll said. “The coaches have helped us out with where pins might be and good spots to be on the course.”
Despite having home course advantage, the Wildcats are not taking the competition lightly.
“The Pac-12 is probably the hardest golf conference,” Moore said. “UCLA is playing well along with USC and our rivals up north so it is anyone’s game, but we have home field advantage.”
Led by Arizona State at No. 2, six Pac-12 teams placed in the top-25 including three in the top-five. USC won the conference championship last season and checks in at No. 10 in the rankings.
Haley Moore leads the Wildcats with an average of 70.67 in eight tournaments this season and won the All-State Sugar Bowl Intercollegiate in February.
Senior Wanasa Zhou also won a tournament for the Wildcats at the Mountain View Collegiate. Zhou’s posted the best score in Wildcats history with a 13 under par in that match.
Zhou missed the Ping Arizona State Invitational with tendonitis, but she will still play in the conference championship.
“It is that time of the year and it is very unfortunate to get injured, however, I had two weeks in between to get ready,” Zhou said. “I just have to start back slow, not push myself too hard and try my best.”
The Wildcats are confident in their ability to pick each other up if someone has a bad day on the course according to Moore, which give them another advantage against the competition at this point in the season.
While there are numerous nationally ranked teams coming to Tucson, Arizona still expects to win this match.
“I know Stanford has played pretty well but honestly this is our home course,” Zhou said. “I think we are the team to beat.”
For live updates, Golfstat.com is providing scores for all teams and players.
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