To open the season, the Arizona women’s golf team had a sixth place showing at the tournament named after Arizona legend Annika Sorenstam.
The 12-team event took place in Lake Elmo, Minnesota at the Royal Golf Club.
Arizona was led by Yu-Sang Hou, who finished seventh individually with a 4-under par. Hou hit a hole-in-one on the 160-yard, 12th hole Wednesday to go 2-under for the round.
The Wildcats’ second-best performance came from freshman Lilas Pinthier, who was competing in her first-ever collegiate event. The French native finished even in the tournament and tied for 15th.
Yu-Sang Hou’s sister, Vivian Hou, shot 2-over to place tied for 20th, while Gile Bite Starkute shot a 4-over, which tied for 28th.
Arizona finished well behind tournament champion South Carolina (-14), but the Wildcats outshot Pac-12 opponents USC (+3), ASU (+5) and UCLA (+18) as well as defending national champion Ole Miss (+7).
“Our team played its most complete round of the day, and that was encouraging to see as numerous other teams in the field didn’t break par today,” head coach Laura Ianello said.
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“Our lineup played great golf and shot their lowest scores of the week today,” Ianello said. “Yu-Sang’s hole in one was the cherry on top of a good week at the ANNIKA.”
The next time Arizona competes will be at the Tyson Intercollegiate Oct. 4-6 in Fayetteville, Arkansas. The Wildcats return five golfers from last year’s team, which reached the NCAA Championship semifinals, and they hope to recreate that success and more this season.
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