The Arizona men’s golf team struggled this weekend in its first action of the 2005 season, finishing in eighth place at the William H. Tucker Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M.
Juniors Josh Esler and Brian Prouty were the only Wildcats who made par over the last 18 holes, as junior Henry Liaw finished the tournament tied for 23rd with a two-over 218.
Juniors Nathan Tyler and Mark Lamb were the only two individual competitors in the tournament. Tyler tied for 13th place with an even-par 216, buoyed by a second round 70, and Lamb shot a final-round 76, dropping him to 20th.
The scores of Lamb and Tyler did not count toward the team score since they competed individually, hurting the Wildcats’ chances for a higher team finish.
“We are going to look at some lineup changes,” said Arizona assistant coach John Knauer. “Two individuals (Tyler and Lamb) played better than the team.”
No Arizona player broke par in the final round of the Invitational.
UNLV won the tournament, as the Wildcats finished 28 strokes behind.
Knauer said he was hoping for a better finish because of the team’s usual success at The Championship Course (par 72, 7,339 yards).
“Can’t blame it on one thing,” he said. “Nobody could seem to get things going.”
Still, the Wildcats could be looking at a case of déjà vu. Knauer said that two years ago, Arizona finished in similar standing at the Invitational, but came back to win four tournaments in the spring and finished third in the NCAA Championships.
The next action for the Wildcats will be the Pacific 10 Conference-Big Ten Challenge in Chicago on Oct. 3 and Oct. 4.
Knauer said that Arizona will use these next two weeks of practice to see who stands out.
“We are going to go in and get after it,” he said.