Women’s golf set to tee off season

The No. 17 Arizona women’s golf team will open up the fall season today in Franklin, Tenn., at the Mason Rudolph Championships.

Seventeen teams will compete in a three-day, three-round event at the Vanderbilt Legends Club — a par-72, 6,217-yard setup.

After a summer full of golf and about a month of practice, the UA women’s squad is ready to start off the season in full swing.

“”I think we’ve got the girls that are playing the best golf right now,”” said head coach Shelly Haywood. “”I’m pretty excited. We have a pretty good team going to Nashville.””

The lineup will include senior Brittany Benvenuto, junior Alejandra Llaneza, sophomores Margarita Ramos and Isabelle Boineau, along with freshman Kyndall Ardoin.

Haywood places a lot of emphasis on team chemistry, and thus, the five golfers are prepared to enter the tournament as a team and hopefully succeed as a team. The Wildcats have been doing team building exercises and inter-squad competitions to help strengthen that bond.

“”Even though golf’s an individual sport, we make it into a team sport,”” Haywood said. “”It is important for the players to know that your teammate has your back and you have theirs.””

The Wildcat golfers must pick up the slack for each other as they are facing some of the top competition in the country. They will compete against 16 other collegiate teams including No. 1 ranked ASU, No. 2 Southern California, No. 3 UCLA and No. 4 Oklahoma State University.

The Vanderbilt University South Course should play to the Wildcats’ strengths.  The course is not too difficult from tee to green, but the greens are very large. Luckily for coach Haywood and the team, they are a terrific putting team.

With the lineup set and the squad as prepared as ever, the women are prepared to start the season off right. 

“”Being the first tournament of the year, I can’t say I know exactly what to expect,”” Haywood said. “”But I can say I expect us to be very competitive.””

M-Golf brings four to San Diego for tune-up

UA Men’s golf coaches Rick LaRose and Andy Barnes will take four golfers to San Diego, Calif., this weekend for a one-day match against San Diego State University.

Freshmen Juan Pablo Hernandez, Stefan Cox and Trent Redfern as well as sophomore Philip Bagdade will make the trip. Redfern and Cox both competed in the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate earlier this month while Bagdade and Hernandez have yet to see the course.

“”We just need to get some guys out on the road and see if they can stand up to some competition,”” Barnes said. “”You can play well day in and day out at home, but it really depends on how well you can play on the road.””

Barnes and LaRose hope to get the younger players more time on the course in a tournament setting, which will give them confidence for future tournaments.

The four will compete against SDSU in an all-day Sunday event. The team is not allowed to field a full team of five in such an event, therefore no team scores will be recorded.

— Mike Schmitz

M-tennis to face Pepperdine

Eight Arizona men’s tennis players will travel to Malibu, Calif., this weekend to compete in the Pepperdine Wave Invitational which begins today and ends Sunday, according to Arizona Athletics.

Five competitors are ranked in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association preseason singles rankings including Arizona’s Jay Goldman, who is ranked No. 36, and Andres Arango, who is ranked No. 122.

Arango and Goldman are joined by senior Ravid Hazi, juniors Andres Carrasco and Jay Goldman, sophomore Jason Zafiros and freshmen Frank Chen and Alex Johnson.

Back to the road for W-tennis

The Arizona women’s tennis squad is also set to hit the road as senior Ariane Masschelein will lead a group of four Wildcats at the New Mexico Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M., this weekend, the athletic department said.

Masschelein is coming hot off of a great streak at the Miner Fall Invitational and is looking to extend that level of play in Albuquerque.

Along with Masschelein, junior Jane Huh, and sophomores Natasha Marks and Sarah Landsman will play in the tournament.

The New Mexico Invitational will be the last stop before the Wildcats head to the Cal Invitational and the SDSU Fall Classic, both commencing on Oct. 2.

— Arizona Daily Wildcat