Arizona men’s golf eliminated at NCAA Championships

Arizona men's golf failed to advance to the final round of stroke play competition at the NCAA Championships Sunday, finishing tied for 19th overall.

The Wildcats needed to finish among the the top 15 teams to advance to the fourth round of competition. Arizona fell seven strokes short of the cut off, shooting 43-over par through three rounds at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale.

Arizona’s 19th place finish is the program’s best showing at NCAA Championships since 2005-06.

The UA shot 11-over par Sunday, an improvement from the prior round but well off the course leaders. Chase Sienkiewicz led Arizona in the third round with a 2-under par. Sienkiewicz was the Wildcats’ top performer at the event, finishing tied for 59th at 10-over.

Chaz Aurilia and Sam Sommerhauser both finished the tournament at 13-over for a tie of 77th. Christian Banke rounded out Arizona’s scoring golfers with a 17-over, tied for 108th, while Johnny Walker finished 18-over, tied for 112th.

Arizona began the NCAA Championships with a promising opening round, shooting 6-over. That put the Wildcats in the top-five after the first day.

Playing in the mid-day heat Saturday afternoon, the Wildcats fell apart, going 26-over in the second round. Arizona needed a stellar round of golf Sunday to put itself in a realistic position at advancing to the eight-team match play tournament that will decide the national champion.

Instead, Arizona will head back to Tucson short of its ultimate goals but with valuable championship experience in tow.