The Arizona men’s golf team shot a 15-over-par to finish sixth at the Arizona Invitational Tuesday afternoon at Arizona National Golf Club.
The Wildcats completed the suspended second round in the morning and shot 10-over on the day for 294 for the third round. Arizona’s tournament score was 867.
“”We didn’t play our best, we rallied a little bit at the end and came back and ended up sixth,”” said UA head coach Rick LaRose. “”The boys showed a lot of heart today and fought like Wildcats at the end. It wasn’t where we had hoped to finish but it was sure a lot better where we could’ve finished.””
Pepperdine carried over its lead from Monday and finished with a team score of 290, 3 over on the par 71 course.
Tarquin MacManus moved up one spot from Monday to finish tied for 13th after shooting a 1 over par, shooting a 72 for the third round to lead Arizona.
MacManus had some trouble on holes No. 6 (par 3) and No. 11 (par 5) in which he triple-bogeyed both holes.
“”To recover to get back to where he was from there showed a lot of heart and he’s a guy that is going to step up and become an outstanding player,”” LaRose said. “”He hung in there and didn’t give up and didn’t quit. Most guys wouldn’t have played that great after that.””
Rich Saferian fell into a tie for 19th after starting the day in sixth place. Saferian shot a 5 over with a score of 76 and triple-bogeyed the par 5 11th hole.
“”No. 11 killed us today, it’s a hard hole. It’s hard for everybody,”” LaRose said. “”It’s (Saferian’s) first tournament; he’s played for us in a while. He didn’t handle the heat under the gun on his first time out, but he will do better the next time out.””
Chris Paisley of Tennessee clamed the individual championship after shooting 12 under par for the tournament, including a round of 4 under on Tuesday. He finished the tournament with a score of 201.
Players were plagued by a brisk wind coming out of the east that hampered everybody on the course.
“”The wind was a factor and it made it hard for everybody,”” LaRose said. “”You have to hit some quality shots and the stray shots really get carried into the desert. It was tough for everybody and the team that handled it the best won and that’s the way it worked out.””
The Wildcats will be off for two weeks before traveling to Honolulu, Hawaii for the John Burns Intercollegiate, Feb. 18-20.
“”We are getting better,”” LaRose said. “”We made some improvements but we have a long ways to go.””
