By Arlie Rahn
Arizona Daily Wildcats
Arizona's men's golf team finished with a three-round total of 900 which was good enough for ninth place in this weekend's William H. Tucker Invitational held in Albuquerque, N.M.
The victor, Oklahoma State, blew the field away with an exceptional team score of 864. The Cowboys, who were tied with Texas after two rounds, delivered the knockout blow to the Longhorns in the third round by shooting a tournament-low 279. Texas finished with an 874, 10 strokes off the mark. Rounding out the top five were Arizona State, UNLV, and Oklahoma.
The individual title went to Stanford's young star, Tiger Woods. Woods, participating in his first college tournament, led the field from the first round as he finished with a 208 (68-72-68), 8-under par. Alan Bratton and Chris Tidland, both from Oklahoma State, finished second and third, respectively.
The one bright spot for the Wildcats was junior Ted Purdy, who finished 14th with a score of 221 (71-72-78). After 36 holes, Purdy was tied for fourth place, and shooting a remarkable 1-under par score of 143.
Benjamin Nicolay, who shot a 223, Tim Beans (224) and Jim Zadvorny (224) also had strong tournaments for the Wildcats. Beans was in 10th place after two rounds and only six strokes off the leader with his 36 hole total of 146. Nicolay had a remarkable third-round score of 69 (3-under par). This catapulted him from a dismal 56th place to an impressive 25th place finish.
UA coach Rick LaRose had expressed concern at the start of the tournament.
"We have only four players returning with experience in tournament play," he said.
Thus, the experience that the players receive in these highly competitive tournaments can only make them better.
The Wildcats hope to continue their success in next weekend's tournament, the Golfweek NCAA Preview, held in Columbus, Ohio.