Wildcats Make 40th Trip to John A. Burns Intercollegiate

LIHUE, Hawai’i – No. 9 Arizona Men’s Golf will participate in the historic John A. Burns Intercollegiate for a 40^th season when it tees off from the Ocean Course at Hokuala on the island of Kauai, beginning on Thursday, Feb. 15. The Hawai’i-based tournament is in its 47^th year of competition, hosting 20 teams for this year’s event. The Wildcats finished runner-up in last year’s tournament after shooting 36-under par.

“Playing in the John A. Burns Intercollegiate is always a privilege, and the tournament remains one of the top events in college golf,” said head coach Jim Anderson. “We had a great week last year in Hawai’i, and we are coming off a record-breaking run at the Arizona N.I.T. two weeks ago. The momentum from our home tournament carried over through qualifying and practice, and we are all excited to go out there and take on a magnificent golf course at Hokuala.”

Arizona shot 50-under as a team at its home event, the Arizona N.I.T., two weeks ago at Omni Tucson National that set a program record for lowest score ever in a 54-hole event. The Cats finished runner-up to New Mexico by a single stroke, which was propelled by three golfers in the top 10 of the leaderboards. Junior Tiger Christensen was Arizona’s top finisher at 16-under and in a tie for third place.

Christensen also posted the Wildcats’ lowest score at the 2023 John A. Burns Intercollegiate, finishing his week in a tie for sixth at 13-under. He is joined by teammate Zach Pollo in the lineup this week who also posted a top-15 score a year ago. Christensen and Pollo will be joined by Filip Jakubcik, Yannick Malik and Tianyi Xiong as the Wildcats’ five counting scorers.

Arizona will join five other program ranked in the top 40 of the national rankings in this year’s field that includes No. 16 New Mexico and No. 20 California. All 20 teams will play 54 holes over three days at the Ocean Course at Hokuala, which is consistently ranked as one of the top golf courses in the country.

News & Notes

• Tiger Christensen was named to the Ben Hogan Award Watch List last week as one of the top 40 golfers in college golf. He will look to become the first Arizona golfer to win the award since Ricky Barnes in 2003.
• In Arizona’s historic 50-under performance, the Wildcats shot 20-under par in the second and third rounds that tied for the second lowest…