PULLMAN, Wash. – Severe windy conditions challenged No. 14 Arizona Women’s Golf and the rest of the field on day one of the Pac-12 Championships at Palouse Ridge Golf Course as 10 of the 11 teams in the field were unable to break par. The Wildcats ended the first round in a tie for ninth at 16-over par with graduate senior Gile Bite Starkute and junior Lilas Pinthier carding Arizona’s lowest rounds at 3-over and in a tie for 17th.
“Our team persevered through a very difficult day on course, and I am proud to see us fight until the very end today,” said head coach Laura Ianello. “Today’s scores were not what we wanted to see today, but this team has maintained their resiliency throughout the year. We know that we have to keep our focused mindset tomorrow and take tomorrow as a new opportunity to compete.”
The Wildcats are part of a pack of nine teams separated by a total of nine strokes on the leaderboard after 18 holes. The field of teams is chasing day one leader Stanford who finished Sunday at 2-under par. Arizona began its first round on the back nine holes, shooting six strokes lower after the turn to the front nine.
Pinthier shot even par on the back nine to pace the Wildcats before Starkute shot two under after the turn that included three consecutive birdies to close her round. By the end of the round, Pinthier was tied for second out of all players in par-3 scoring average.
Arizona will tee off on day two of the Pac-12 Championships at 10:10 a.m. (MST) on Monday, playing alongside California and Oregon State.
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