Starkute Shines As Cats Tie for First in First Day of Pac-12 Preview

KAILUA-KONA, Hawai’i – No. 20 Arizona Women’s Golf headed to the Pac-12 Preview at Nanea Golf Club in Hawai’i with plans to ride the momentum of two quality performances in its first two events of 2024. Behind a five-under par performance by graduate senior Gile Bite Starkute, the Wildcats opened their week with a dominant round of 10-under par to tie USC for first place. Monday’s first-round score of 10-under ranks among the program’s top-10 rounds in school history.

“Today was an ideal start for our team that was led by another excellent performance from Gile,” said head coach Laura Ianello. “We came out as a team very focused, which set us up for a strong start of eight birdies through the first three holes. We had some blemishes in the middle of the round, but the credit goes to our young ladies for overcoming those challenging holes to finish strong. Today was a great way to set the tone for the rest of the week as our team has already shown they are determined and driven for more success.”

Starkute sat in second place at the end of the day, trailing USC’s Bailey Shoemaker by one stroke. Her flawless, bogey-free round of 68 began with four birdies in her first five holes that mirrored junior Carolina Melgrati’s fast start of three consecutive birdies. Melgrati finished her round on Monday a stroke behind Starkute in a four-way tie for third place.

The round of 68 posted by Starkute is the continuation of a very strong start to the new year for the graduate senior. She picked up her first collegiate win last month at the Matchin the Desert after tying the program record for lowest round ever with a blistering-low 8-under round of 64. The native of Lithuania went on to earn Pac-12 Golfer of the Week for her performance.

The Wildcats were the top team in par-3 scoring average on Monday, shooting 2-under as a team as part of a 21-birdie day. The entire Arizona lineup finished Monday’s first round in the top 20 of the individual leaderboard with Julia Misemer (-1, T-15^th), Nena Wongthanavimok (E, T-20^th) and Charlotte Back (E, T-20^th) joining Melgrati and Starkute.

Arizona will tee off on Tuesday morning alongside the other top-four teams on…