Golf team faces stiff competition at the Arizona National Invitational Tournament

Wyoming’s golf team competed in the Arizona National Invitational Tournament (ANIT) at the Omni Tuscan National Golf Course this past weekend.

The ANIT tournament consisted of the best teams from the western region of the United States. Although the Cowboys ended the tournament at 15^th place, the last position, UW’s head coach Joe Jenson still had many positives criticisms towards the team.

“Overall there was more good than bad, we are a young team that is going to go through growing pains,” Jensen said. “Ryan played a solid tournament and the younger guys are getting in the experience to build a good foundation for when it counts towards the end of the year.”

Wyoming’s top finisher was Ryan Wallen, scoring eight over par, resulting with a score of 224. Although Wallen had a great ending score relative to the pressure and high competition, he ended at 42^nd overall individually.

The rest of the golf team placed significantly lower. Kamrin Allen shot 15 over par, adding up to a score of 231, placing him in the 67^th position. Freshman Drew McCullough was thrown to the wolves playing in his first Arizona Invitational Tournament with a score of 21 over par. This score gave him a final score of 238, tying for 78^th place.

Fellow freshman, Quinton Pope, also ended in the bottom half of the field. Pope shot a score of 26 over par, a 242 at the end of the scorecard, and placed 83^rd in the tournament. The Pokes golf team came back to Laramie with some bumps and bruises, but there is a silver lining to all losses.

“For my team right now it is about getting in the experience and seeing these courses for the first time against some tough competition. We will have a break until April and then really get back into the swing of things with consistent tournaments,” coach Jenson said.

The team overall shot 924 in the tournament, 60 strokes over par.

The Cowboy’s golf team will have to brush off some tough rounds of golf and tighten up their game with the Arizona State Thunderbird Invitational in Tempe, Ariz. on April 2.