Pinthier Cards Cats Lowest Score On First Day in Napa

NAPA, Calif. – Behind junior Lilas Pinthier’s team-best opening round of 2-under par, No. 14 Arizona Women’s Golf finished the first day of the Chevron Silverado Showdown in a tie for fourth place with a team score of even par. Arizona was part of a five-team pack of teams, out of a field of 16, to shoot even par or lower on Monday. Pinthier carded round of 70 on Monday put her in a tie for seventh place.

“Today was a good opening day for our team as we started and finished our round with strong scores,” said head coach Laura Ianello. “This is a course that will challenge you, and we showed that we were a prepared team. We have three golfers in the top 20, including a top-10 round from Lilas, and are in a good spot heading into round two. If we carry that same mindset and focus with us tomorrow, we will be in a good place heading into the final round.”

In addition to Pinthier, sophomore Nena Wongthanavimok and junior Carolina Melgrati also posted top-20 scores. Wongthanavimok finished one stroke behind Pinthier for 11^th place while Melgrati carded an even par round that put her in a tie for 18^th place.

Arizona sank 12 birdies on the front nine on Monday to just five with an eagle after the turn. Wongthanavimok hit her stride on the front nine holes, sinking three consecutive birdies beginning on the fifth hole. The Cats recorded the second-lowest par-5 scoring average in the field on Monday, shooting 7-under par on the courses longest holes that included an eagle from Julia Misemer on the 16^th hole.

The Wildcats are tied with Texas in fourth place on the leaderboard, trailing Pepperdine by a stroke and Northwestern by three strokes. USC, with an opening score of 6-under par, leads the field after 18 holes. Northwestern’s Dianna Lee carded Monday’s lowest round at 5-under to lead all golfers.