The Wildcats traveled to Windermere, Fla. on Friday, Oct. 20 to compete in the 16th annual Tavistock Invitational. Arizona’s third tournament of the season was hosted at the Isleworth Country Club with the first round of play starting Sunday, Oct. 22 and the final round ending Tuesday, Oct. 24. The Wildcats finished in 10th place after three rounds of play making this the second time the ‘Cats placed in the top 10 this season.
The five-man team for Arizona had their best day of the tournament in the final round, as the team combined for an overall score of 286 (two under par) in round three and an overall team score of 879 (+15). The final round allowed the ‘Cats to climb from 13th to 10th place on the leaderboard.
“We were very impressed with the team today, we weren’t scoring particularly well to start, but each guy stayed in it. On the back nine, we had only a couple bogeys on a stretch of holes that was causing most teams significant problems. Our guys fed off each other and we played each shot the best we could finishing up,” head coach Jim Anderson said to Arizona Athletics.
Senior George Cunningham, sophomore Brad Reeves, sophomore David Laskin, freshman Trevor Werbylo and junior Dylan Stein made up the team for Arizona. The Wildcats competed against 16 other teams and this tournament marked the first time Arizona faced Arizona Sate this season.
Last week the Wildcats didn’t participate in a team tournament because of a break in their schedule, but despite the break, the team still produced good numbers in their return. At the end of round one the ‘Cats found themselves in ninth place as a team. Cunningham led the team in round one finishing fourth in the individual category.
“George’s experience and confidence were on full display and he helps set a great tone for our team in competition,” Anderson said to Arizona Athletics after round one.
Cunningham has the hot hand for the ‘Cats this season as his round one score of a 69 (three under par) marks his fifth round under par this season. Werbylo also highlighted round one for the ‘Cats after finishing tied for 22nd.
“Trevor’s round was also impressive because Isleworth is not an easy layout, especially on the first time around,” coach Anderson said to Arizona Athletics.
Round one in Florida was followed by a bit of a slip up in round two for the ‘Cats dropping them from nine on the leaderboard to 13 out of 17 teams.
“Today was a challenging day for our team. We had two guys really carry us with David [Laskin] and George [Cunningham]. Tomorrow, we need a team effort in the scoring so we can move up the leaderboard. Their games are good and we need to make fearless swings at good targets. Tomorrow will be a better day if we can do that top to bottom,” Anderson said to Arizona Athletics.
Cunningham and Laskin lead the team on day two. Cunningham finished the day ranked seventh overall and Laskin’s score of 69 (three under par) made him the only member of Arizona to score under par on the day.
Tuesday marked the final round of the tournament and the Wildcats reached a level of play that earned them an even better score than round one. The ‘Cats finished the final round two under par with a score of 286 posting their best team score of the tournament. This moved the team three spots up the leaderboard to number 10 overall.
In round three, Reeves and Stein both shot under par with Reeves placing tied for 60th and Stein tied for 78th. Reeves finished the final round with a one under par score of 71 and Stein with a two under par 70. Cunningham finished Tuesday with an even par score of 72 placing him tied for 11th place individually. Werbylo finished round three with a solid round three score of one over par 73 placing him tied for 51st. Laskin finished the day nine over par and tied for 65th overall.
Fellow Pac-12 members, No. 21 California placed first overall in Florida with a team score of six under par. No. 28 Illinois and No. 10 Florida tied for second place (five under par) and California jumped two spots in the leaderboard in the final round allowing them to seal the first place spot.
The Wildcats take another break in the schedule this weekend and in two weeks travel to Monterey, Cali. to compete in the Saint Mary’s Invitational. The tournament will start Monday, Nov. 6 and finish Wednesday, Nov. 8. The Saint Mary’s Invitational will be hosted at the iconic Pebble Beach Golf Course.
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