For one day of the Bruin Wave Invitational, the Arizona women’s golf team was the best team on the course. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, there were two other days of the tournament.

The Wildcats finished fifth with a combined score of 11-over-par, including a final round of 5-over-par. Southern California 2-over-par was the tournament winner with Arizona State (4-over-par), UCLA (8-over par), Pepperdine (9-over-par) and UA (11-over-par) rounding out the top five.

After jumping out to a three-stroke lead following the first round, Arizona was unable to recover from an abysmal second round in which they shot a combined score of 11-over-par.

Although they didn’t play up to expectations, the Wildcats got a good look at how the field will stack up in the Pacific 10 Conference Championships, as nine of the conference’s ten teams participated in the event.

Danielle Kang (8-under-par) of Pepperdine won individual honors for her first collegiate win. UA did not have a golfer break into the top 10, and Alejandra Llaneza was the team’s top finisher in a tie for 13th  at 2-over-par.

Llaneza was the only Wildcat golfer to break the top 20, but all five of the team’s players cracked the top 33.

For the second consecutive tournament, ASU —  the nation’s No. 2 team according to Golfstat.com — had at least three golfers crack the top 10. Washington State turned in the worst performance of the week, finishing in last place and shooting a 112-over-par) 976. 

Arizona will continue the spring season as it plays in the Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational, a three-day event hosted by the University of Texas from March 26-28. 

— Alex Williams