The No. 18 Arizona women’s golf team finished tied for 13th out of 16 teams in the Hooters Collegiate Match Play Championships in Reunion, Fla., to close out the fall season Sunday.
The Wildcats shot poorly in the first round, which was played at the Ginn Reunion Resort on the Independence Course. They shot 20 over par, the worst round by any team in the tournament.
Despite an improvement in the second round with a 9 over par, it wasn’t enough to make any noise in the tournament after falling into last place after the first day.
“”We came out really, really flat in the first round, and it was hard to catch up,”” said head coach Shelly Haywood. “”These girls know what they need to do, and after the first round we were in last. I told them that Arizona doesn’t finish last, and we came back and played a little better in the second round.””
The top performer for the Wildcats was freshman Margarita Ramos, who finished the two rounds with a 6-over-par 150.
The Wildcats had an opportunity to extend their time in Florida by taking part in the match play portion of the tournament, but in order to qualify, Arizona had to finish in the top eight in the stroke portion.
Instead, the Wildcats will take on Tennessee in match play in the consolation bracket starting today, but no longer have an opportunity to win the tournament.
“”We are very disappointed that we are in the consolation bracket,”” Haywood said. “”Our goal was to obviously be in the top eight, and we didn’t get it done, but if we can go 3-0 in match play, that will at least be a little less salt in the wound.
“”But looking at the bottom bracket, I like our chances of going all the way through,”” Haywood added.
Men’s team heads to California in search of improvements
The Arizona men’s golf team will hit the links today in the CordeValle Collegiate, hosted by UCLA, which runs today through Wednesday. The tournament will be played at the par-72 CordeValle Country Club.
The Wildcats have received good performances from sophomore Tarquin MacManus as of late, including an 8-over-par performance in the Isleworth-UCF Collegiate Invitational Oct. 26-28, which led Arizona to a 12th-place finish.
While six golfers will play in the tournament – Roberto Galleti, Jonathon Khan, Tyler Neal, Bradley Nicholson and Philip Bagdade – the Wildcats could look for a leader in the sophomore.
Arizona assistant head coach Andy Barnes wouldn’t classify the Wildcats’ fall season as very successful, but said this tournament is the perfect opportunity to gain momentum heading into the spring.
“”Every tournament (is) big; it is a matter of gaining experience for the spring semester at this point,”” Barnes said. “”We still need to step up and see who our leaders are going to be next semester.””
