After coming up just short last weekend, the No. 7 Arizona women’s golf team takes that experience to Las Vegas today where the Wildcats search for their first victory of the year in the Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown.
Arizona has had a very strong fall season, including a second place finish in Palo Alto, Calif., last weekend. It was the Wildcats second Top-5 finish of the year and has established them as a team to reckon with this season.
“”I’m excited about the way the fall season has gone so far,”” UA head coach Greg Allen said. “”We want to finish strong.””
The team feels that a victory is the only thing missing from its resume heading into the break between the fall and spring seasons, and the Wildcats have two chances to get in the winner’s circle counting the Vegas Showdown.
The Showdown features many of the top teams in the country, including Pacific 10 Conference foes No. 3 ASU and No. 8 UCLA. A total of seven teams from the Top-25 will be in Las Vegas.
Arizona will once again depend heavily on its three-headed monster of sophomore Adriana Zwanck and juniors Alison Walshe and Mary Jacobs.
The trio carried the team down the stretch at the Stanford/Pepsi Intercollegiate last weekend and Walshe, who tied for the individual lead at Stanford, now has two victories on the year.
Walshe said that while the team has had a great season so far, a victory would just be icing on the cake.
“”A first-place (finish) would be that much better,”” she said.
Jacobs said the team has proved that it can compete with the elite teams in golf, and added that being forced to play clutch golf right down to the last couple of holes will prove to be invaluable as the season progresses.
“”Golf is so mental that you need experiences like that,”” Jacobs said.
Sophomore Amanda Wilson and senior Rachel Gavin, who returns to the line-up after being replaced by freshman Brittany Benvenuto at Stanford, will join the big three in Las Vegas.
Because the lowest four scores count toward the team’s total, the lack of production from players not named Walshe, Jacobs or Zwanck has been the team’s Achilles’ heel so far this season.
Allen is optimistic that this will be the weekend Wilson starts playing like she did to end last year, noting her success at this tournament in the past.
Wilson finished tied for fifth in Las Vegas last year.
“”Hopefully this will be the tournament that gets her jump-started,”” Allen said.
Men swept in first round of match play
The No. 64 Arizona men’s golf team entered its first round match against No. 2 Florida thinking upset, but what they got was a taste of reality.
Arizona, the lowest seed at the Callaway Match Play Championship in Ft. Worth, Tex., lost all five matches to Florida on Sunday. The Wildcats were the only team not to win a single match.
The loss eliminates the Wildcats from title contention as they are now relegated to the consolation bracket for the remainder of the tournament.
Arizona will try to bounce back today against No. 15 Nevada-Las Vegas, who lost 3-1-1 to No. 19 Duke in the first round.
Because the Championship is a double elimination tournament, the Wildcats next loss will get them an early trip home.
