Arizona Wildcats women's golf

The Arizona Wildcats women's golf is considered one of the best in all of women's collegiate golf, dating back to their first season in 1979. Since they have won three national championships in 1996, 2000, and 2018. The Wildcat Women have also had four individual national champions with Susan Slaughter in (1990), Annika Sörenstam in (1991), Marisa Baena in (1996) and Jenna Daniels in (2000).

Arizona Wildcats women's golf
Founded1979
UniversityUniversity of Arizona
ConferencePac-12
Athletic directorDave Heeke
Head coachLaura Ianello (12th season)
LocationTucson, Arizona
CourseTucson Country Club
Par: 72
Yards: 7,022
NicknameArizona
ColorsCardinal and Navy
NCAA champions
1996, 2000, 2018
NCAA individual champions
Susan Slaughter (1990)
Annika Sörenstam (1991)
Marisa Baena (1996)
Jenna Daniels (2000)
NCAA runner-up
2002
NCAA match play
2018
NCAA Championship appearances
1982, 1983, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023
Conference champions
Pac-10/12
1992, 1997, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2010, 2015
Individual conference champions
Pac-10/12
Annika Sorenstam (1992)
Leta Lindley (1994)
Marisa Baena (1996)
Jenna Daniels (1998)
Lorena Ochoa (2001)

On August 4, 2023, Arizona announced it would join the Big 12 Conference along with Arizona State, Colorado, and Utah beginning in the 2024-25 academic year.[1]

Members of the Wildcat women's program have gone on to success on the LPGA Tour, led by 8-time LPGA Player of the Year Annika Sörenstam and 4-time LPGA Player of the Year Lorena Ochoa. Sörenstam is regarded as one of the best female golfers in history.[2] Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she had won 90 international tournaments as a professional, making her the female golfer with the most wins to her name. She has won 72 official LPGA Tour tournaments including ten majors and 18 other tournaments internationally, and she tops the LPGA's career money list with earnings of over $22 million—over $2 million ahead of her nearest rival while playing 187 fewer events.[3] The winner of a record eight Player of the Year awards, and six Vare Trophies given to the LPGA player with the lowest seasonal scoring average, she is the only female golfer to shoot a 59 in competition. She holds various all-time scoring records including the lowest season scoring average: 68.6969 in 2004. Representing Europe in the Solheim Cup on eight occasions between 1994 and 2007, Sörenstam was the event's all-time leading points earner until her record was surpassed by England's Laura Davies during the 2011 Solheim Cup. Sörenstam also was captain of the 2017 European Solheim Cup team. In 2003, Sörenstam played in the Bank of America Colonial tournament to become the first woman to play in a PGA Tour event since 1945.

Lorena Ochoa was the top-ranked female golfer in the world for 158 consecutive and total weeks (both are LPGA Tour records), from April 23, 2007, to her retirement on May 2, 2010, at the age of 28 years old. As the first Mexican golfer of either gender to be ranked number one in the world,[4] she is considered the best Mexican golfer and the best Latin American female golfer of all time.[5][6] Ochoa was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2017.[7]

Yearly record

Source[8]

SeasonCoachConferenceNCAA
Pac-10/12
1981JoAnne Lusk4th14th
1982JoAnne Lusk3rd13th
1983JoAnne Lusk3rd11th
1984Kim Haddow4th
1985Kim Haddow4th
1986Kim Haddow5th
1987Kim Haddow4st12th
1988Kim Haddow5th8th
1989Kim Haddow3rd4th
1990Kim Haddow2nd7th
1991Kim Haddow2nd3rd
1992Kim Haddow1st2nd
1993Kim Haddow8th14th
1994Kim Haddow6th
1995Kim Haddow/Rick LaRose4th12th
1996Rick LaRoseT-3rd1st
1997Rick LaRose1st3rd
1998Rick LaRose1st3rd
1999Todd McCorkle2nd4th
2000Todd McCorkle1st1st
2001Greg Allen1st8th
2002Greg Allen1st7th
2003Greg Allen2nd7th
2004Greg Allen3rdT-15th
2005Greg Allen4th
2006Greg Allen5th17th
2007Greg Allen4thT-14th
2008Shelly Haywood4th23rd
2009Shelly Haywood4th16th
2010Shelly Haywood/Laura Ianello1st5th
2011Laura Ianello2nd15th
2012Laura Ianello3rd
2013Laura IanelloT-4th8th
2014Laura IanelloT-2ndT-7th
2015Laura Ianello1stT-5th
2016Laura Ianello4thT-9th
2017Laura Ianello4th
2018Laura IanelloT-3rd1st
2019Laura Ianello2nd6th
2020Laura IanelloSeason canceled due to the
Coronavirus Pandemic
2021Laura Ianello4thT-7st
2022Laura IanelloT-5th
2023Laura Ianello4thT-9th
2024Laura Ianello6th
TotalPac-10/12:83

Team tournament wins (84)

Source:[9]

  • 1982 Lady Aztec Invitational
  • 1983 Wildcat Invitational
  • 1988 Washington Invitational
  • 1988 Dick McGuire Invitational
  • 1988 Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational
  • 1989 Wildcat Invitational
  • 1989 Shiseido Cup International
  • 1989 Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational
  • 1990 Border Conference Championship
  • 1990 Oregon Invitational
  • 1991 Stanford Invitational
  • 1991 Wildcat Invitational
  • 1991 UCF Rotary Classic
  • 1991 Golfsmith Betsy Rawls Longhorn Invitational
  • 1991 Rainbow Wahine Invitational
  • 1991 Dick McGuire Invitational
  • 1991 Lady Sun Devil Invitational
  • 1991 Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational
  • 1992 Wildcat Invitational
  • 1992 Golfsmith Betsy Rawls Classic
  • 1992 Rainbow Wahine Invitational
  • 1992 Pac-10 Championships (1)
  • 1996 LSU Fairwood Invitational
  • 1996 Rainbow Wahine Invitational
  • 1996 Buckeye Invitational
  • 1996 NCAA West Regional
  • 1996 NCAA Championships (1)
  • 1996 Dick McGuire Invitational
  • 1996 Rolex NCAA Preview
  • 1997 LSU Fairwood Invitational
  • 1997 PING/ASU Invitational
  • 1997 Pac-10 Championships (2)
  • 1997 Rolex NCAA Preview
  • 1998 Pac-10 Championships (3)
  • 1998 NCAA West Regional
  • 1998 Stanford Intercollegiate
  • 1998 Golf World Invitational
  • 1999 Arizona Invitational
  • 1999 Rainbow Wahine Invitational
  • 1999 Dick McGuire Invitational
  • 2000 Golf World Invitational
  • 2000 TRW Regional Challenge
  • 2000 Wildcat Invitational
  • 2000 Rainbow Wahine Invitational
  • 2000 PING/ASU Invitational
  • 2000 Pac-10 Championships (4)
  • 2000 NCAA West Regional
  • 2000 NCAA Championships (2)
  • 2000 Dick McGuire Invitational
  • 2000 Stanford Pepsi Invitational
  • 2001 TRW Regional Challenge
  • 2001 Wildcat Invitational
  • 2001 Pac-10 Championships (5)
  • 2001 NCAA West Regional
  • 2002 Pac-10 Championships (6)
  • 2003 Edean Ihlanfeldt Invitational
  • 2010 Las Vegas Collegiate Showdown
  • 2010 Pac-10 Championships (7)
  • 2010 NCAA West Regional
  • 2010 Topy Cup
  • 2011 Wildcat Invitational
  • 2012 Wildcat Invitational
  • 2012 UNLV Invitational
  • 2012 Mason Rudolph Championship
  • 2012 Windy City Collegiate Classic
  • 2013 Dr. Donnis Thompson Invitational
  • 2014 SunTrust Gator Invitational
  • 2015 SunTrust Gator Invitational
  • 2015 PING/ASU Invitational
  • 2015 Pac-12 Championships (8)
  • 2016 Wildcat Invitational
  • 2017 Mountain View Collegiate
  • 2018 Hawkeye El Tigre Invitational
  • 2018 PING/ASU Invitational
  • 2018 NCAA Championships (3)
  • 2019 Pac-12 Preview
  • 2019 UNLV Rebel Beach Invitational
  • 2019 Hawkeye El Tigre Invitational
  • 2020 Pac-12 Preview
  • 2020 Wildcat Invitational
  • 2022 NCAA Raleigh Regional
  • 2023 Gators Invitational

Individual champions

Source:[10]

NCAA

Arizona has had four individuals claim the NCAA Individual Championship on four occasions.

NCAA Individual Champion
YearName
1990Susan Slaughter
1991Annika Sörenstam
1996Marisa Baena
2000Jenna Daniels

Regional

NCAA Central Regional
YearName
2004Erica Blasberg

Conference

Arizona has had five separate golfers win a conference title on five separate occasions.

Pac-10/12
YearName
1991Annika Sörenstam
1994Leta Lindley
1996Marisa Baena
1998Jenna Daniels
2001Lorena Ochoa

National honors

Source[11]

Individual scoring record

Source:[12]

Low 18-hole total in relation to par
PlayerDateScore
Haley MooreOct 26, 201764 (−8)
Therese WarnerMar 8, 202165 (−7)
Gigi Stoll65 (−7)
Wanasa ZhouMar 11, 201765 (−7)
Haley MooreSep 13, 201665 (−7)
Low 18-hole aggregate total
PlayerDateScore
Haley MooreOct 26, 201764 (−8)
Therese WarnerMar 8, 202165 (−7)
Gigi Stoll65 (−7)
Wanasa ZhouMar 11, 201765 (−7)
Haley MooreSep 13, 201665 (−7)
Low 54-hole total in relation to par
PlayerSeasonScore
Wanasa Zhou2016–17203 (−13)
Manon Gidali2011–12204 (−12)
Haley Moore2016–17206 (−10)
Lorena Ochoa2001–02206 (−10)
Krystal Quihuis2016–17206 (−10)
Low 54-hole aggregate total
PlayerSeasonScore
Wanasa Zhou2016–17203 (−13)
Manon Gidali2011–12204 (−12)
Haley Moore2016–17206 (−10)
Lorena Ochoa2001–02206 (−10)
Krystal Quihuis2016–17206 (−10)
Career scoring average (min. 2 seasons played)
PlayerAverageYearsRounds
Lorena Ochoa70.852000–0260
Vivian Hou71.952019–2141
Erica Blasberg72.322002–0461
Haley Moore72.452015–19118
Yu-Sang Hou72.482017–2196
Single-season scoring average (Min. 18 rounds played)
PlayerYearsRounds
Lorena Ochoa70.132001–0230
Vivian Hou70.682019–2019
Vivian Hou71.402016–1730
Lorena Ochoa71.562000–0130
Jenna Daniels71.701999–0034

References