Arizona men’s golf’s best postseason in decades ended just short of competing for a national championship.
The Wildcats fell to UCLA in the NCAA semifinals Tuesday at Omni La Costa Resort in Carlsbad, Calif. after knocking off Vanderbilt earlier in the day in quarterfinals action.
Arizona’s run to the semifinals marks the program’s best finish at NCAA Championships since 2004, when it finished third. The UA had never advanced to match play (introduced by the NCAA in 2009) until this year.
“We were ready
for that against UCLA and our team showed a bunch of fight,” Arizona coach Jim Anderson said. “Of course we are disappointed we didn’t come out on the right side of the match, but I’m so proud of our guys and the year we were able to enjoy together. We are sad to see our seniors go, but there are so many memories that we all made together and that’s what we will remember.”
Arizona’s lone point in the semifinal match came from senior Filip Jakubcik, who won his point 3&32. Fellow senior Zach Pollo was tied through 17 holes when UCLA clinched the match.
Arizona’s Taishi Moto missed a birdie putt on No. 18 that would have sent his match to extra holes. By not converting and losing the point, Arizona faced too big a hill to climb.
Quarterfinals recap
Arizona advanced to the semifinals thanks to some late heroics from Pollo.
With the quarterfinals match tied at 2-2, Pollo and Vanderbilt’s Wells Williams battled in the anchor match for the deciding point. The two seniors sparred all morning, with Pollo leading for most of the match.
Williams tied the match on the 16th and then took a 1-up lead by holing out on the 17th. Pollo, needing a point on the 18th to the extend the match, took advantage of Williams’ misfortunes – an errand tee shot into the penalty area followed by a bunker misfire. Pollo made par to force extra holes.
On the first extra hole – played on No. 1 – both players missed birdie putts and tapped in on par to continue play. The second extra hole was on No. 15, where Pollo nailed an approach shot from the hardpan dirt to land within 10 feet of the hole. Williams’ approach shot landed 30 feet away.
Williams missed his birdie putt, leaving the door open for Pollo to win the match. Pollo delivered, giving Arizona its first victory in the match play era.
“I couldn’t picture a better person to be in that spot than Zach Pollo,” Anderson said. “He stuck to the game plan, shot by shot, he was committed to each one. On that last hole, he hit an incredible wedge in there and buried the putt. It’s such a thrill because the team gets to celebrate that.”
Arizona’s other two points came from Moto (4&3) and Tianyi Xiong (3&2).
Moto, Xiong and William Wistrand are all underclassmen, which gives Arizona a solid core to build around if they should all return next season.
