Wildcats Start Slow; Finish Day One of Pac-12's In 10th

SAMMAMISH, Wash. – A challenging opening day of 36 holes at the Pac-12 Championships saw a total of three out of a total of 24 team rounds break par as Arizona Men's Golf finished Monday in 10th place at 33-over par. Graduate senior Christian Banke led the Wildcats with opening rounds of 72 and 71 to finish the day in a tie for 13th place at 1-over par.

"Early struggles carried over longer than we would have liked today, but I felt like we were steady as a team in the second round," said head coach Jim Anderson. "Much like the Western Intercollegiate last week, the course and conditions made it a challenge today that we didn't adjust to as quickly as we would have liked. We did find some consistency in our second round, and I am confident we can keep our steady play going into Tuesday."

The Wildcats posted better scores across the board after the turn in both of Monday's rounds. The team sank 12 birdies total in its two trips through the front nine before carding 21 birdies and an eagle on after the turn in both rounds.

Banke's top-15 showing on the first day of the championships was followed by junior Chase Sienkiewicz in a tie for 35th at 4-over par. Freshman Johnny Walker shaved four strokes off from his opener in his afternoon round to move up nine spots on the player leaderboards.

Arizona will look to cut into the double-digit stroke buffer of the three teams directly ahead of them in the standings heading into the second of three days at Aldarra Golf Club.