The No. 12 Arizona women’s golf team showed few signs of rust after a three-week layoff, opening with a 13-over 301 at the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational in Seattle.
The Wildcats are tied for second place with No. 22 New Mexico and are in a good position to claim their first victory of the year. Arizona trails only No. 2 ASU, who shot an 11-over 299.
“”I feel very fortunate to only be two shots out because we certainly didn’t have our best today,”” UA head coach Greg Allen said in an e-mail. “”I think we left a few shots on the course and made some silly mistakes coming in.””
The tournament is held at the Sahalee Country Club, home of the 1998 PGA Championship. The par 72, 6,130-yard course is known for its deep roughs, a factor that contributed to only three golfers shooting under par.
“”It is one of the great golf courses in the world, and it is very tight and demands accuracy off the tee,”” Allen said.
Junior Mary Jacobs paced Arizona with an opening round of 1-over 73, leaving her five shots behind individual leader Mari Chun from Stanford.
“”Mary had one of those roller-coaster kind of rounds,”” Allen said. “”She made five birdies and shot 1-over. When she found the fairways, she was the best player in the tournament, but when she found the trees, it was a struggle to save par.””
Sophomore Adriana Zwanck is tied for seventh place with a 2-over 74.
Junior Alison Walshe, who won the individual title in Arizona’s opening tournament in mid-September, is tied for 11th place after shooting a 3-over 75.
Walshe, who had an up-and-down first day, opened with three straight bogies and wound up with a 6-over on the front nine, including two double-bogies. But she rebounded nicely by posting a 3-under on the back nine. She had four birdies and no bogies on the final 10 holes.
“”Alison got off to a terrible start but showed what all great players have, and that’s the ability to turn around a bad round into a decent round,”” Allen said.
Sophomore Amanda Wilson (7-over 79) and senior Rachel Gavin (14-over 86) rounded out Arizona’s attack.
The Wildcats will be back in action today, and the tournament’s final 18 holes will be played tomorrow.
“”The team came here really believing we can win, and we want to put together a solid round (today) so that we have a chance to get the job done (tomorrow),”” Allen said.
