The No. 8 Arizona women’s golf team shot a two-round total of 606 (38-over-par) in the first day of the Arizona Wildcat Invitational, good for seventh place with one round left to play. The Wildcats haven’t won the team competition, which is played at Arizona National, since 2001.
“”I’m just really surprised at some of the places we hit the ball today,”” said UA head coach Greg Allen. “”We made a lot of mental mistakes, hitting the ball in the desert area, and we’ve been preparing for this tournament since August.””
Junior Alison Walshe led the team with a score of 149 (7-over-par) to finish the day tied for 18th. Junior Mary Jacobs shot 9-over-par and sophomore Adriana Zwanck is one shot behind her. They are tied for 33rd and 44th, respectively.
“”It’s golf. You can have home-course advantage, but not so much in golf,”” Jacobs said. “”I got nervous, and that set a bad tone from the very beginning.””
Sophomore Amanda Wilson finished 12-over-par and is tied for 43rd, while freshman Emily Mason is tied for 64th after firing a 20-over-par through two rounds.
Competing as individuals for the Wildcats were freshman Brittany Benvenuto, who is tied for 72nd, and sophomores Marisa Smith and Brooke Schneider, who are in 77th and 81st place, respectively.
The team has been inconsistent at the No. 4 and No. 5 spots in the lineup all year, but got good production from Wilson yesterday.
“”I was happy to see Amanda break back and give us a decent number today,”” Allen said. “”Hopefully that will get the team’s confidence going because I certainly know we’re capable of playing with the best teams in the country.””
No. 2 ASU leads the tournament going into the final day after it shot 577 (9-over-par). The Sun Devils are 11 shots ahead of No. 4 Duke. Amanda Blumenherst of Duke is the individual leader after she shot rounds of 70 and 69 to enter the final day 3-under-par, two shots ahead of Sun Devil Jennifer Osborn.
Even though 12 of the 15 teams playing in the tournament are ranked in the top 25, only two players shot under par in perfect weather and perfect course conditions.
“”I’m shocked at the scores not only from our team, but from all teams,”” Allen said.
The team will finish the tournament today at 8 a.m.
