LIHUE, Hawai'i – No. 9 Arizona Men's Golf will participate in the historic John A. Burns Intercollegiate for a 40
th season when it tees off from the Ocean Course at Hokuala on the island of Kauai, beginning on Thursday, Feb. 15. The Hawai'i-based tournament is in its 47
th year of competition, hosting 20 teams for this year's event. The Wildcats finished runner-up in last year's tournament after shooting 36-under par.
"Playing in the John A. Burns Intercollegiate is always a privilege, and the tournament remains one of the top events in college golf," said head coach
Jim Anderson. "We had a great week last year in Hawai'i, and we are coming off a record-breaking run at the Arizona N.I.T. two weeks ago. The momentum from our home tournament carried over through qualifying and practice, and we are all excited to go out there and take on a magnificent golf course at Hokuala."
Arizona shot 50-under as a team at its home event, the Arizona N.I.T., two weeks ago at Omni Tucson National that set a program record for lowest score ever in a 54-hole event. The Cats finished runner-up to New Mexico by a single stroke, which was propelled by three golfers in the top 10 of the leaderboards. Junior
Tiger Christensen was Arizona's top finisher at 16-under and in a tie for third place.
Christensen also posted the Wildcats' lowest score at the 2023 John A. Burns Intercollegiate, finishing his week in a tie for sixth at 13-under. He is joined by teammate
Zach Pollo in the lineup this week who also posted a top-15 score a year ago. Christensen and Pollo will be joined by
Filip Jakubcik,
Yannick Malik and
Tianyi Xiong as the Wildcats' five counting scorers.
Arizona will join five other program ranked in the top 40 of the national rankings in this year's field that includes No. 16 New Mexico and No. 20 California. All 20 teams will play 54 holes over three days at the Ocean Course at Hokuala, which is consistently ranked as one of the top golf courses in the country.
News & Notes
- Tiger Christensen was named to the Ben Hogan Award Watch List last week as one of the top 40 golfers in college golf. He will look to become the first Arizona golfer to win the award since Ricky Barnes in 2003.
- In Arizona's historic 50-under performance, the Wildcats shot 20-under par in the second and third rounds that tied for the second lowest scoring rounds in program history.
- Freshman Tianyi Xiong returns to the Wildcat lineup this week after a top-10 finish at the Arizona N.I.T. Xiong's run was powered by an 9-under round of 63 in the second round, which set an Arizona record for lowest round ever by a freshman.
- The Wildcats have posted strong scores at the John A. Burns Intercollegiate in recent years that include runner-up finishes in 2023 and 2022. Arizona last won the event in 2004 by shooting 31-under par.
- Arizona Men's Golf alum Andy Barnes is coming off a headline news week. Barnes is the long-time caddie for Charley Hoffman on the PGA Tour who finished runner-up in a playoff at the Waste Management Open in Phoenix on Super Bowl Sunday.