The Arizona men’s golf team finished 12th at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate on Tuesday at the Old Overton Country Club in Vestavia Hills, Ala.

Senior Erik Oja stood out throughout the tournament, finishing with a total of 212 ( 2).

Oja moved from a tie for 27th with a total of 146 ( 6) on Monday, making him the top performer for the Wildcats. He finished with a tie for 8th after having the best round on the field on Tuesday.

The finish is Oja’s third top-10 effort in his four starts of the season so far.

After Oja’s effort on the course on Tuesday, head coach Jim Anderson said in a press release that he was pleased with Oja’s performance on the course.

“Erik is among the best in college golf, and he continues to prove that on the course,” Anderson said. “His round today is just another example of the fact that he can compete with anyone.”

Anderson also said that those on the team are happy for Oja, and they hope he will continue to use events like the Jerry Pate Intercollegiate to build confidence for the future.

The Wildcats as a whole, however, struggled on Monday.

“[Tuesday] was a very frustrating day for us, but this team is learning to fight,” Anderson said in a press release. “We’ve had guys struggle at times, but it affected everyone [Tuesday] and made for a challenging day.”

Senior Benson Liu finished 56th (228), junior Alex McMahon finished 58th (234), junior Tucker Wadkins was 59th, (236), and senior Christian Colegrove finished 60th (242).

After starting the tournament in 57th, Liu was able to improve to 56th place.

The team will participate at the Herb Wimberley Intercollegiate in Las Cruces, N.M., from Oct. 21 to 22.

— Follow Rose Valenzuela @RoseAlyVal