The Arizona men’s golf team won the Arizona Intercollegiate which gives them their first win of the 2017-2018 season and their first win since 2012. This is also Arizona head coach Jim Anderson’s first win as with Arizona.
The Wildcats shot to the top of the leaderboard in the final three holes of the tournament, passing Baylor and Texas A&M for first place. Senior George Cunningham finished the day with an impressive final round score of 65. Cunningham’s -6 final round jumped him 14 spots up the leaderboard to take sole possession of second place in the individual category.
“It feels great, so proud for these guys cause they work so hard year round but especially for this tournament. I’m just so happy that the results accumulated in to a win for the team too it’s even more special, they did a great job,” Anderson said.
Arizona proved how important home course advantage is in the game of golf as they had five players finish in the top-25 of the individual category. Cunningham took second place with freshman Tianlang Guan finishing in 10th place.
Sophomore David Laskin climbed 30 spots up the leaderboard to finish tied for 11th. Laskin finished the final round of the tournament with an impressive six birdies, with four straight birdies on holes 13 through 16. Junior Travis Fredborg placed tied for 19th place shooting a final round of 70.
Finishing tied for 25th, was Arizona sophomore Brad Reeves. Reeves highlight of the tournament was during round two when he shot a 68.
“You just kinda take it one shot at a time. We prepare and workout for this type of a thing. It’s endurance, it’s a marathon, it’s not a sprint,” Reeves said.
UA junior Dylan Stein tied for 38th place shooting a 79, 73, followed by another 73 in the final round. Freshman Trevor Werbylo jumped 29 spots up the leaderboard with a final round of 68.
The Wildcats used the final round of play to dominate the field. Despite the strong wind conditions the course saw yesterday and a race to finish before sundown, the Wildcats were able to get the job done and win on their home turf. Laskin talked about the energy the team was feeling on that final round and why it was his favorite of the tournament.
“For me it was definitely the final round, I shot a really good final round. It’s just kind of fun, I was playing with my teammate Brad [Reeves], my roommate and we just kind of fed off of each other. On one hole I holed out and then I immediately looked at him and knew he was gonna make a put, we were just feeding off of each other. Making birdies, making putts it was just so much fun out there,” Laskin said.
In round one on Monday, the ‘Cats finished with a combined team score of 313. The next round they dropped their score to 280 and for the final round of play they finished with a team score of 269. Arizona’s ability to drop their team score by 44 shots from round one to three pushed them to the top of the field.
For their next tournament, Arizona will travel to Lihue, Hawaii to compete in the John Burns Intercollegiate. That tournament will take place in two weeks starting on Feb. 15 and going until Feb. 17. Coach Anderson looked ahead to Hawaii and how his team will approach the rest of the season.
“I think the most important thing that we can draw besides the enjoyment of winning our home tournament is conformation that we are one of the best teams in the country. I think our message will still stay the same but we are certainly excited for the opportunity to go out and compete week after week knowing that we’re capable of something like this,” Anderson said .
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