The Arizona women's golf team entered its first tournament of the season over the weekend, putting any issues from last year behind it and hoping to get the 2005 season started on the right foot.

Three tough days in Franklin, Tenn., however, left head coach Greg Allen's squad still searching for something to spark that initial boost.

The Wildcats finished 14th out of 15 teams in the Mason Rudolph Women's Championships this weekend - a small consolation after being dead last after each of the first two rounds.

"I'm more shocked than anything," Allen said. "We were really excited and really expecting to play well, and those first two days were brutal."

Arizona finished 53 shots behind tournament winner Duke and 40 shots behind in-state rival ASU, which finished in sixth place.

"This is probably the best field we will see until nationals," Allen said. "If we could have finished in the top five, I would have been really pleased."

There were some bright spots in the tough weekend. Freshman Sommer Scholl fired a 1-over-par 73 yesterday despite playing conditions worsening because of Hurricane Rita.

The score tied for the fifth-best of the day individually and jumped the Riverside, Calif., native from 77th place to a tie for 61st.

"Sommer playing well in the tough conditions is huge for her confidence," Allen said.

Allen said that while flying back to Tucson yesterday, he read an article by NFL quarterback Peyton Manning that he hopes will help his team get over its weekend performances.

"The article said that whether it's a great win or a heartbreaking loss, you have to get over it and get ready for the next one," he said.

The Wildcats next compete in the Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational in Seattle from Oct. 10-12.

"We leave for Seattle in two weeks, and it will be a good event at a great golf course," Allen said. "With a deeper team we're able to make some lineup changes, and we're definitely going to throw in one new girl for Seattle."

Redshirt senior Lani Elston-Marshall was the low Wildcat, finishing in a tie for 44th, while senior Cassandra Kirkland finished one shot behind in a tie for 46th.