By Curtis Acosta
Arizona Daily Wildcat
There is something to say for consistency. The Arizona women's golf team has been finishing among the top 10 in most of their tournaments this year.
The problem remains that the Wildcats can't break into the upper elite of women's golf. Consistency struck again this past weekend in Tempe.
In one of the toughest tournament fields in all of women's collegiate golf, the Wildcats finished with a respectable seventh-place showing at the Ping/ASU Invitational.
Top-ranked Arizona State won the tournament by 33 strokes over second-ranked Stanford. The Sun Devils dominated their home tournament with three of their players finishing in the top five. ASU's Wendy Ward beat out teammate Kellee Booth by eight strokes to win the tournament.
Arizona rebounded from a disappointing opening round, which left the Wildcats in 11th place, to move up to sixth after the second round. Their second-round showing was the third-highest score of the day behind only ASU and Stanford. The Wildcats finished with another strong round Sunday, but it wasn't enough to compete with the top teams of the tournament.
Another bright spot for the tournament was the play of freshman Heather Graff. The Wildcats' top finisher in the fall returned to the form that saw her capture four top 10 finishes last semester. Graff added another top 10 finish this weekend, tying for ninth place.
Both Brenna Cepelak and Ulrika Johannson, whom have been playing well as of late, had average scores which contributed to the Wildcats' seventh place finish.
Cepelak, who has been the best player in the spring, finished tied for 29th place. Johannson tied for 32nd place.
The team will have a few weeks off to gear up and find some chemistry, before the Pacific 10 Conference Championship in Corvallis, Ore., April 24.