TUCSON, Ariz. – No. 5 University of Arizona women’s golf will conclude the collegiate season with the NCAA Championships. Held at The Concession Golf Club (par 72, 6,468 yards) and hosted by South Florida, competition will take place Fri.-Wed., May 22-27.
The NCAA introduced a new format of play for the 2015 season which includes four rounds of stroke play and two days of match play. The field of 24 teams will play three rounds of stroke play May 22-24. After round three, the top 15 teams and nine individuals will advance to the fourth and final round of stroke play (May 25) where an individual champion will be crowned. The top eight teams from stroke play advance to match play on May 26-27.
For the third-straight tournament, seniors Manon Gidali and Kendall Prince, junior Lindsey Weaver, sophomore Wanasa Zhou and freshman Krystal Quihuis will be competing for the Wildcats at the NCAA Championships. Arizona’s line-up consists of two seniors, Gidali and Prince, who will play their final rounds as collegians this week. Joined by fellow senior Andrea Vilarasau, the trio also participated in graduation ceremonies on the UA campus last weekend.
Arizona is ranked No. 6 in the current Golfweek/Sagarin poll and No. 5 by Golfstat.com. Individually, according to Golfweek, junior Lindsey Weaver is No. 20, senior Manon Gidali is No. 28, freshman Krystal Quihuis is No. 51 and sophomore Wanasa Zhou is No. 116. Weaver is No. 35, Gidali is No. 44 and Quihuis is No. 67 according to Golfstat.com.
Joining No. 5 Arizona in Bradenton will be No. 24 Alabama, No. 8 Arkansas, No. 18 Baylor, No. 34 California, No. 46 Campbell, No. 4 Duke, No. 6 LSU, No. 39 N.C. State, No. 14 Northwestern, No. 31 Purdue, No. 2 South Carolina, No. 13 Stanford, No. 12 Tennessee, No. 9 Texas A&M, No. 27 Texas Tech, No. 23 Tulane, No. 22 UC Davis, No. 3 UCLA, No. 19 UNLV, No. 1 USC, No. 10 Virginia, No. 11 Wake Forest and No. 7 Washington in addition to 12 individuals. (Rankings according to Golfstat.com 5/17/15)
The Wildcats are making their 28th appearance at the NCAA Championships. UA holds two NCAA titles from the 1996 and 2000 seasons. Arizona’s highest finish since the win in 2000 was fifth in 2010. Additionally, the Cats have four individual titles from Susan Slaughter in 1990, Annika Sorenstam in 1991, Marisa Baena in 1996 and Jenna Daniels in 2000.
UA posted a fourth-place finish at Notre Dame’s NCAA Regional Championships earlier this month to punch their ticket to the NCAA Championships. Arizona finished with an 886 (+22) and daily rounds of 294, 292 and 300. Weaver finished third with a 215 (-1) and daily rounds of 71, 70 and 74. Gidali shared 14th place with a 220 (+4). She carded rounds of 73, 75 and 72.
Live scoring is available at golfstat.com. A complete recap and results will be available at ArizonaWildcats.com after each day of competition.
For continued coverage of Arizona women’s golf, follow the team on Twitter @UAWomensGolf, at Facebook.com/ArizonaWomensGolf or visit ArizonaWildcats.com.
