Cats Post Sixth-Place Finish at Pac-12 Championships
PULLMAN, Wash. – No. 14 Arizona Women's Golf closed off its run at the Pac-12 Championships on Tuesday by breaking par as a team for a second consecutive day to end its week in sixth place at 4-over par. The Wildcats were led by the tandem of Charlotte Back and Gile Bite Starkute who both shot 2-under to push Arizona to a 4-under par team score in the third and final round. Back and Starkute capped their weeks by finishing in sixth and 16th place respectively.
"It's always important to end a tournament with good scores, and that was the case for us this week at Palouse Ridge Golf Course," said head coach Laura Ianello. "It was great to see quality and consistent play today from our team as they competed with the same intensity as yesterday. Hats off to Charlotte and Gile for their top-10 and top-20 finishes to pace us. This week didn't start how we wanted it to, but our young ladies' response showcased their maturity. We had some great moments and a lot of positivity to take with us moving forward."
Back, who shot a program and championship record 64 on Monday, ended her championship run at 5-under par. It marked the first top-10 finish of her season as well as her lowest 54-hole score. Her 211 strokes for the week also tied the fifth-lowest player score ever by a Wildcat at the Pac-12 Championships. Starkute's 1-under performance that put her in a tie for 16th place was the best finish of the graduate senior's career in four trips to the Pac-12 Championships.
Arizona finished its week just three shots behind fifth-place Washington and a stroke ahead of Arizona State who placed in seventh. Stanford won the Pac-12 Championships in record-breaking fashion with a final team score of 28-under par. The Pac-12 individual champion was USC's Catherine Park who won by five strokes with a final score of 15-under.
The Wildcats will now look to Wednesday's NCAA Women's Golf Selection Show to find out their NCAA Regionals destination. The show will air on the Golf Channel at 11 a.m. (MST).