Cats Finish Runner-Up at Arizona Thunderbirds Intercollegiate

TUCSON, Ariz. – After entering the final round of the Arizona Thunderbirds Intercollegiate with a four-shot deficit, Arizona Men’s Golf rallied to tie Texas A&M for first place with 5 holes remaining before finishing runner-up to the Aggies by three strokes. The Wildcats shot 10-under par in the third round to post a final team score of 33-under par, which snapped the program’s five-year winning streak at its home tournament.

“We have some disappointment in not winning the team title for a sixth consecutive year, but we played some excellent golf throughout the week and came up just short,” said head coach Jim Anderson. “We had several guys play some of the best golf of their careers, and that is an important foundation to build on after the first tournament of the spring season. Our lineup saw strong play from veterans as well as newcomers, which is vital to our growth and development in the months to come.”

The top finisher in the Arizona lineup was senior Chaz Aurilia who capped his two days at Tucson Country Club in a tie for third at 12-under. His 54-hole score of 204 set a career low, besting his 205 at the Maui Jim Intercollegiate in the fall. Aurilia was joined in the top three by a pair of Wildcats competing as individuals as Cal McCoy shot 13-under for second place and Johnny Walker also shot 12-under to tie Aurilia for third. BYU’s Zac Jones won the individual title at 16-under par.

The Cats also got a top-10 finish from newcomer Tiger Christensen who transferred from Oklahoma State before the semester. He carded rounds of 68, 70 and 70 to finish in a tie for eighth at 8-under. Senior Chase Sienkiewicz utilized a final round 66 to finish the week at 6-under and in 11^th place.

The final day of the tournament was a two-team race between Arizona and Texas A&M as third-place California finished 10 strokes behind the Wildcats. Arizona’s final team score of 33-under par was its third lowest ever in the history of the event that began in 1981.

The runner-up finish to start the new calendar year will be the launching point for the spring season with the Wildcats returning to action on Thursday, Feb. 16 at the John Burns Intercollegiate in Hawai’i.