Arizona Concludes Round Two of NCAA Championships in Sixth Place

CARLSBAD, Calif. – Omni La Costa’s North Course gave the field of the NCAA Championships a difficult day again on Saturday as only three programs in the 30-team field broke par. No. 15 Arizona Men’s Golf shot 10-over par on the day to finish the second round in a tie for sixth at 12-over. Sophomore Filip Jakubcik carded the Wildcats’ best score of the round at 1-over par to tie teammate Tiger Christensen for 15^th place at 1-over after 36 holes.

“We were not as strong in our execution of the game plan today as the course continued to be a challenge,” said head coach Jim Anderson. “We were a dozen shots better after the turn to the front nine today, which was a testament to our team’s resiliency. Sitting in the top ten after two rounds puts us in a decent position ahead of the cut down to 15 teams, but we have to come out on Sunday with our mindset to play a complete round. This team has gotten stronger as tournaments have gone on this year, and I expect us to come out show that tomorrow.”

Arizona’s consistent play on the front nine holes was highlighted by bogey-free, even par performances by Zach Pollo and Sam Sommerhauser. Christensen, who shot 3-over today, made the most of the North Course’s longest holes with two birdies on par 5’s to rise up to fifth place for the tournament in par-5 scoring. Sommerhauser is two strokes behind Jakubcik and Christensen as Arizona’s next lowest score, sitting in a for 27^th place.

The Cats sit in a three-way tie for sixth place with Ohio State and Florida State. The trio of teams sit in a pack of six teams separated by a total of five shots. Arizona also holds a ten-stroke advantage over 15^th place Stanford heading into the third round, which will cut the field down from 30 teams to 15 after 54 holes.

The 15 teams who make the cut after Sunday’s third round will play a final 18 holes of stroke play on Monday and the individual NCAA champion will be crowned. After the fourth round of stroke play, the top eight teams will advance to match play on Tuesday.