Florida Rain Ends Cats’ First Day on Course

GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The best-laid plans of the Vystar Credit Union Gators Invitational of a 36-hole opening day on Saturday were spoiled by torrential downpours in northern Florida. No. 16 Arizona Women’s Golf was able to complete 13 holes, finishing 14-over in a tie for 10^th in the first round. Senior Gile Bite Starkute paced Arizona in its abbreviated opening round with a 1-over par showing that put her in a tie for 11^th place.

“Today was filled with adversity and challenges outside of our control, which was a good learning experience for our team,” said head coach Laura Ianello. “We battled through some difficult scoring holes to start the morning, but I was proud of the perseverance our young ladies showed. I am optimistic it will pay off on Sunday for us.”

The Wildcats are part of a pack of nine teams separated by a total of nine strokes on the leaderboard. Arizona was the third-best team in par-3 scoring on Saturday out of the 14-team field, including hard-earned birdies from Starkute and freshman Julia Misemer.

Arizona’s additional top-20 scorer on Saturday was sophomore Carolina Melgrati who finished one stroke behind Starkute at 2-over and in a tie for 17^th. The Italian was one of only a handful of players to birdie multiple of Mark Bostick Golf Course’s par 5’s.

Originally slated for 54 holes over two days, the Gators Invitational will attempt to play at least 36 holes on Sunday to close out the event.