Arizona and Auburn have more in common than the first letter of their names. For the second consecutive women’s golf tournament, the No. 8 Wildcats and the No. 7 Tigers finished tied for sixth place.
Arizona shot 3-over 295 in yesterday’s final round to finish the Margaret Branch NCAA Fall Preview at 9 over. And as in the Rudolph Championships in Nashville, Tenn., 10 days ago, mental mistakes and double bogeys – three in the final round – prevented the Wildcats from entering the top three in Albuquerque, N.M.
“”We need to make smarter decisions,”” said UA head coach Shelly Haywood. “”We need to put ourselves in position to birdie, not to struggle to par.””
Perhaps most disconcerting for Arizona was finishing behind No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 ASU, and No. 6 USC. The Wildcats were hoping to make a big statement against their tough Pacific 10 Conference rivals.
“”I’m a little bit disappointed,”” Haywood said. “”You have to play really well to beat those teams. We didn’t live up to our potential. We showed signs, but we weren’t quite there.””
While the team failed to
I hit a lot of greens and gave myself a lot of opportunities to make birdies.
-Alison Walshe,
senior golfer
accomplish its goal of a top-three finish, senior Alison Walshe did. Walshe finished in third place individually, shooting 10-under 209 for the tournament. The score was Walshe’s lowest as a Wildcat.
“”I hit a lot of greens and gave myself a lot of opportunities to make birdies,”” Walshe said. “”I’m very pleased (with my finish).””
Walshe, ranked No. 6 nationally, shot 3-under 70 in the final round, highlighted by an eagle on the par-5 18th hole.
“”Alison played great,”” Haywood said.
Aside from Walshe’s performance, another positive can be taken from the week. The tournament was held on New Mexico’s Championship Course, the same site of the 2008 NCAA Championships.
“”It was good to see the course,”” Walshe said. “”We’re one-up on the teams that didn’t get to go (to the tournament).””
Haywood said even more positives could be found in Arizona’s finish.
“”Overall, we played really well,”” she said. “”We got in four good rounds and we were consistent. Finishing sixth in this field is not bad. We’re right there with the top five to six teams in the country.””
