Wongthanavimok's Blistering Debut Pushes Cats to First

FRANKLIN, Tenn. – No. 23 Arizona Women's Golf opened the 2022-23 season with a blistering 6-under round at the Mason Rudolph Championship and sat alone atop the leaderboards after the first round. Nena Wongthanavimok led the Wildcats in her first collegiate round of golf with a 4-under opener, which put the freshman in a three-way tie for first among all players. Wongthanavimok ended her round with three consecutive birdies on the 16th, 17th and 18th holes.

"I am so proud of our entire team for how we played today," said head coach Laura Ianello. "With four underclassmen in the lineup, our young ladies came out playing some fantastic golf and showed their competitive spirit. Hats off to Nena for shooting a 68 and finishing among the leaders in the very first round of her collegiate career. Carolina and Lila also showed their growth and development as sophomores with strong rounds today as well. Gile and Julia also played some quality golf today to push us."

The sophomore tandem of Carolina Melgrati and Lilas Pinthier both finished Friday's opening round at 1-under and in a tie for tenth place. Melgrati buried four birdies in five holes on the front nine while Pinthier was in a tie for third heading into the turn.

The Wildcats sit in first place by one stroke over host Vanderbilt and two stokes head of Mississippi State. The trio of leaders were the only teams in the 14-team field to break par. Arizona shot even in par-4 scoring on Friday, which led all teams and three strokes better than second-place Mississippi State.

Arizona tees off at 10:10 a.m. (CST) in Saturday's second round and will play alongside Vanderbilt and Mississippi State.