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UA golf team battles weather in Texas

When a team is playing as well as the No. 12 Wildcat men's golf team, the only thing that could stop them would be mother nature herself.

That is exactly what happened earlier this week when the Wildcats finished seventh at the Morris Williams Intercollegiate held at the Austin Country Club in Texas.

The Wildcats, who were coming off a victory at the Louisiana Classic, faced treacherous weather conditions during the first day of play.

"The first day was so tough because it was so windy," All-American senior Derek Gillespie said. "It was really tough conditions."

With the poor weather, the playing field was leveled, making the tournament up for grabs early.

"The weather was so bad during the first day of play, it was any team's tournament," freshman Ricky Barnes said.

UA golf head coach Rick LaRose thought the conditions provided a helpful lesson for his team.

"We played in some difficult conditions, but it was a good learning experience," he said.

The Wildcats were in 10th place after the first day of play

Part of the reason for Arizona's poor start was the condition of the course, which was extremely tough to play because of the wind.

"I felt that we could have done a little better, but we got off to a rough start," freshman Reid Hately said. "That course was playing really tough."

The Wildcats regrouped quickly and shot a 288 on the final day - the second best team score of the day. Their performance on the final day moved Arizona up from 10th to seventh place.

LaRose was also pleased with the team's effort on the final day.

"We had a great final round," he said.

The top individual finisher for the Wildcats was sophomore Cody Beyer, who racked his first top-10 finish of the season by shooting a 4-over-par 220.

"Cody is starting to get it together, and he is a tough little competitor with a lot of heart," LaRose said. "We need him to keep getting better like that."

Beyer's teammates were impressed with his performance and hope that he can consistently put up numbers like he did in Texas.

"He's a really good player, and it can be his breakthrough tournament," Gillespie said. "Hopefully, he can play like this for the rest of the year."

After UA's performance at the Morris Williams, LaRose said the team can compete with anybody in the nation.

"We're up there in the standings, and we are one of the better teams in the country," LaRose said. "Things seem to be all right."