Idaho comes up short in Arizona Invitational
Time constraints hurt the Idaho women’s golf team in its last tournament over spring break.
The team competed in the Arizona Wildcat Invitational March 16-17 in Tucson, Arizona, and started off with strong performances from seniors Leilanie Kim and Kaitlyn Oster. A lack of sunlight caused play to be suspended on the first day and forced a third of the competition to compete the following morning where the Vandals finished 14th out of the 15 teams competing. USC won the tournament with a 30-under-par 834.
Idaho coach Lisa Johnson said momentum was rising in the first round, but the adversity of suspending play affected the outcome.
“Play was suspended that first day, but our team’s outlook on the tournament never changed,” Johnson said.
A strong first-day performance from one of their leading seniors helped carry the attitude of the team in the first round. Oster was 1-under par before play was interrupted, but fell to 7-over for the remainder of the round.
“The way we played the second day doesn’t represent our team and what we can accomplish the rest of the season,” Johnson said. “This is a tournament that we have played in for four years now, and it definitely gave those two (Oster and Kim) an advantage that the underclassmen will eventually gain.”
The preseason Big Sky favorites didn’t live up to expectations in Tucson, but the Vandals have two more tournaments this season. The team wraps up its season next month with two tournaments — the Cowgirl Classic April 6-7 in Maricopa, Arizona, and the Big Sky Conference Championship April 19-21 in Chandler, Arizona.
Zach Ozuna can be reached at [email protected]