Dawgs in Fourth After Round One of Amer Ari Invitational
WAIMEA, Hawaii – The University of Washington men's golf team returned to the course on Tuesday, opening with the first round of the Amer Ari Invitational at Hapuna Golf Course in Waimea, Hawaii. The Dawgs are in fourth after posting a 3-under 285 in a round that featured a tournament-high 60 pars and 18 birdies. Senior Noah Woolsey led the charge for the Huskies as he currently is in second place with his 6-under 66.
"We were on the verge of a really, really good round today, but it just got away from us a little bit," said head coach Alan Murray. "It's a little frustrating right now but there was plenty of good golf out there today, we just didn't have it for all 18 holes. There were plenty of good signs and if we could be a little more ruthless tomorrow, I think we can have a really good round. Noah played really well and was very measured and controlled out there. He made it look easy when it's not easy to do what he did today. We have three freshmen here and so it's been a great experience for them and they're learning a lot. We're excited to get back out there tomorrow, recharged and ready to keep improving."
Woolsey opened the round with a bang, rattling off three-straight birdies on his first three holes. After making par on the next four, he went on to add two more birdies to make the turn at 5-under. The senior then pushed his score to 7-under before finishing with a blemish on his final hole to turn in a 6-under 66. His eight birdies on the day tied for the second most by anyone on the course during round one and Woolsey is current three strokes behind the lead, held by Arizona State's Blake Wagoner (-9, 63).
Freshman Teddy Lin carded UW's other below-par score on Tuesday as he posted the best round of his young Husky career with a 1-under 71 to sit tied for 17th. The newcomer was nearly perfect recording just one blemish on the day, a double bogey on the sixth hole. He carded three birdies and finished his final 12 holes with two birdies and 10 pars.
Senior Henry Lee is one stroke behind Lin at even-par 72, which is tied for 22nd. Like his fellow senior teammate Woolsey, Lee had a strong front nine, making the turn at 3-under. He added two more birdies to get to 5-under before errors on the 15th and 16th brought him back to even-par. Freshman Taehoon Song, who is competing as individual, sits tied for 25th, after recording his best round as a Husky which featured seven birdies.
Rounding out the UW lineup was freshman Robert Galligan and senior Jan Schneider who are tied for 36th and 39th, respectively. Galligan, playing in his first tournament with the Huskies, is at 4-over 76, after his round featured blemishes on just three holes. Schneider is one stroke back at 5-over 77 with his round almost mirroring Galligan's as his errors also happened on just three holes combined. He made par or better on the remaining 15.
The second round of the Amer Ari Invitational tees off Tuesday morning.