Sienkiewicz in Second, Cats in Sixth After Day One at Blessings
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Behind Chase Sienkiewicz's top-10 scoring round and a strong back nine, Arizona Men's Golf finished the first day of the Blessing Collegiate Invitational in the middle of the 10-team field at 3-over par and in sixth. Sienkiewicz carded a 3-under round of 69 to put him in a seven-way tie for second place, which was the second-lowest round of his young, junior season.
"I was very proud of how Chase came out and set a tone with three consecutive birdies on the front nine," said head coach Jim Anderson. "We saw better scores across the board after the turn, which our entire lineup will be happy with. We've got a quality round under our belt, and we will look to improve on that in Tuesday's second round."
Arizona tallied 13 birdies as a team on the back nine after making seven on the front with Sienkiewicz carding a team-high four birdies after the turn. The Wildcats were especially strong on the back nine's pair of par-5's, shooting a combined 6-under par on the 10th and 15th holes. By end of Monday's round, the Cats finished second in par-5 scoring behind only Illinois.
.@ArizonaMGolf's Chase Sienkiewicz tied for early individual lead at Blessings.
He will be a fun one to watch this week as he absolutely bombs the ball. One of – if not the – longest player in the field.
— Brentley Romine (@BrentleyGC) October 4, 2021
In addition to tying for first place in par-5 scoring at 3-under par, Sienkiewicz also tied for second at par-4 scoring at 2-under par. Christian Banke and Sam Sommerhauser both cracked the top three of the field in par-3 scoring at 1-under par.
Banke and Sommerhauser joined freshman Jackson Norwich as Arizona's other top-30 finishes for the first round outside of Sienkiewicz's second-place finish.
Arizona returns to the Blessings Golf Club on Tuesday morning for the second round of the Blessings Collegiate Invitational with Golf Channel television coverage in the afternoon.