Cats Rise to the Occasion As Day One Leaders at Western Intercollegiate

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – The long tradition of the Western Intercollegiate at Pasatiempo Golf Club is one of challenges, and No. 9 Arizona Men’s Golf overcame a difficult golf environment on Monday to take the position as tournament leaders after the first round. The Wildcats were the only team out of a field of 14 to break par, shooting 2-under par as a team to take a six-stroke lead. The trio of Sam Sommerhauser, Filip Jakubcik and Johnny Walker carded rounds of 3-under, 2-under and 1-under respectively.

“Today was a great team performance by our guys after a quick turnaround,” said head coach Jim Anderson. “Pasatiempo has a history of testing you, and we came out today and played our best round on the course. Today was a testament to every one of our golfers executing our game plan, showing resiliency and playing within themselves. We rose to the occasion today, and now we have to meet that standard of play again tomorrow.”

The Cats’ top-notch round to open this year’s event featured three golfers breaking par. By comparison, the team did not have more than one player break par in a single round in this tournament a year ago. Sommerhauser utilized an eagle on the 18^th hole to record his opening round of 67, which put the senior in a three-way tie for second place. Jakubcik, who finished one stroke behind his teammate, sits in a tie for fifth place while Walker capped his day in 12^th place.

The Wildcats tied Oregon for the lowest par-5 scoring average in Monday’s opener, shooting 10-under par on Pasatiempo’s longest holes. Arizona carded a trio of birdies and Sommerhauser’s eagle on just the 18^th hole alone.

Arizona will tee off in Tuesday’s second round with a six-stroke advantage over Stanford and seven shots ahead of Washington. The tournament leaders will go off the first hole at 12:40 p.m. (MST) with the Golf Channel resuming its daily coverage on the Peacock app at 4 p.m. (MST).