Arizona women’s golf in middle of pack after first round of NCAA Championships

Arizona women’s golf is squarely in the middle of the pack after the first round of the NCAA Championships.

The Wildcats shot a team score of 4-over par Friday at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale, putting them in a tie for 13th with two other schools. Wake Forest leads the 30-team field after the first day with a 9-under par.

Arizona was led Friday by freshman Nena Wongthanavimok with a score of 3-under par of 69. Wongthanavimok is tied for seventh among individual golfers.

“I tried to be very patient,” Wongthanavimok said. “I know the course is pretty challenging, so I tried to stick to my plan. I just tried to do what Coach Ianello said, which was be patient and give 100 percent effort.”

Gile Bite Starkute and Carolina Malgrati each shot 1-over par, while Julia Misemer rounded out scoring with a 5-over par.

Arizona tees off the second round Saturday at 11:52 a.m. PT.