Wildcats start regional play in Albuquerque on Monday, where they'll have to finish in the top four among 12 teams to keep their season alive.
The Wildcats women's golf team has what it takes to win it all.
The Wildcats look a little different as both of the Hou sisters — Vivian and Yu-Sang — moved onto the professional ranks after qualifying at LPGA Q school in December. But Ianello thinks that it’s the makeup of this year’s squad that gives them an edge. Arizona was the only school in the country to make the semifinals in three consecutive years — winning in 2018 and making it to the semifinals in 2019 and 2021. The event were canceled in 2020 because of the pandemic.
“Everybody around the lunch table was heads down low. Everybody acted like the tournament was over. And I just was like, ‘You know what, guys?’ I said, ‘Do I wish would have played better today? Yes.’ But, at the end of the day, these are young kids and they're pursuing a dream. They work really, really hard,” Ianello said.
“Otherwise, we will give ourselves too much pressure and then your ball striking, everything just being unnatural, not consistent because your emotions up and down too much,” Chang said. “I's one of the courses in town that actually has some rough because I genuinely feel like when we get to Albuquerque, they're going to have some thicker rough,” Ianello said. “I think our grass here is starting to become a little bit more dormant, not as thick and so we need to make sure we're playing and practicing in places that has rough around the greens. Fast, firm conditions similar to our fairways that we see.