Men's golf team struggles, finishes fourth in Florida

By Mike Jenkins
Arizona Daily Wildcat
April 6, 1998

Men's golf team struggles, finishes fourth in Florida

The Arizona men's golf team was looking to regain its No. 1 ranking, but after its performance at the U.S. Collegiate Championships in St. Augustine, Fla., over the weekend, it will be lucky to hold on to its No. 2 national mark.

The tournament was played on the Slammer and the Squire Course at the brand new World Golf Village. The Wildcats finished in fourth place overall, 13 strokes behind champion Florida State. Arizona shot 297-294-290 to finish with a total of 17-over par 881.

In the individual competition, sophomore Derek Gillespie was the highest Wildcat finisher. Gillespie shot a final round one-under par 71 to finish in fifth place at two-under par 214, four shots behind leader D.J. Brigham of New Mexico. This is good news for the Wildcats, due to the fact that Gillespie has been struggling as of late.

Senior Rory Sabbatini finished in sixth place, one stroke behind Gillespie at one-under par 215. Sabbatini struggled with a final round of one-over par 73 after carding under-par rounds on Friday and Saturday.

The Arizona women's golf team placed third at the PING/ASU Invitational this weekend. The women shot a 10-over par 298 in the final round yesterday. Their total score at the tournament, which was held at Tempe's Karsten Course, was 24-over par 888.

Stanford won the event with a score of 8-over par 872. San Jose State was placed second (14-over par 878) while Arizona State, the host team, finished in fourth (28-over par 892).

Marisa Baena gave UA its strongest performance. She tied for eighth place at 5-over par 221 (73-74-74). Jenna Daniels tied for 10th at 6-over par 222 (78-71-73).