Arizona women’s golf is back in action and looking to continue its winning ways this weekend in the PING/ASU Invitational.
The Wildcats were able to get an overall team win at the SunTrust Gator Women’s Invitational and will travel to Tempe, Ariz., for this weekend’s tournament. It will be hosted by the Sun Devils at the ASU Karsten Golf Course.
This tournament will include some of the nation’s very best, including No. 2 UCLA, No. 3 Duke, No. 5 Oklahoma, No. 6 ASU, No. 7 South Carolina and No. 8 Stanford.
Even though the competition at this tournament will be tough, head coach Derek Radley said the previous win has given the team new self-assurance.
“I have always seen confidence in them, but now I see a new confidence in them,” Radley said “They got the taste of victory, and they feel like they can do it and they know our hard work is paying off. Just to prove that we’re doing the right things and say, ‘Yeah, we got the trophy and actually won,’ is a big piece of the puzzle, and just confirms that we’re moving in the right direction.”
Radley said that although not everyone has played on the course as a collegiate player, everyone on the team has played on the course at some point, and that experience has the team looking forward to this tournament.
“They can’t wait to get up there and start playing, and as a coach, that gets you excited when you see your players excited to play,” Radley said.
One advantage that Radley discussed was the fact that this tournament will be taking place in Arizona, which should be a benefit for the team.
“I like anytime we can play in Arizona,” Radley said, “for the simple fact that the yardage stays the same. We are at the same elevation, so our distance control should be really good and will help us do well.”
The lineup will include junior Manon Gidali, junior Andrea Vilarasau, sophomore Lindsey Weaver, freshman Jessica Vasilic and freshman Wanasa Zhou.
Vasilic led the team at the SunTrust Gator Women’s Invitational by finishing in second place. In the process of finishing second, she was able to collect her best-ever individual finish as a collegiate athlete, and finished with her lowest tournament score.
The tournament will begin on Friday with the first round starting at 8 a.m., and will wrap up on Sunday with the final round teeing off at 7:30 a.m.
—Follow Fernando Galvan @fgalvan35
