Playing golf requires a microwave mentality.
Arizona will begin NCAA Tournament play on Monday as the No. 6 seed in the Bryan Regional at Traditions Club, Texas A&Mβs home course near College Station. The field includes last yearβs national champions in top-seeded Pepperdine as well as Texas A&M, Georgia, Tennessee, Kansas, Michigan State, Boise State, SMU, Oregon State, Colorado State, Southeastern Louisiana and Texas Southern.
The Wildcats will need a hot start β and a short memory. They finished 11th in the Pac-12 Championships held in Seattle in late April.
βItβs not something weβre talking too much about as a team anymore, because quite frankly, the tournament weβre going to next, the outcome of last week has no bearing on this tournament β and the two conditions couldnβt be anymore different,β Anderson said. βFor us, itβs just a part of the past and right now weβre playing in the present, and just get ready for a great week.β
Arizonaβs struggles date back a bit further than that. The Wildcats havenβt finished higher than fifth in a tournament since February, when they came in second at the John Burns Intercollegiate in Hawaii.
βFor us, itβs always been about preparing for the next tournament,β Anderson said. βThe experience we pick up from each tournament leading up to the postseason is stuff we talk about, learn from, get ready and kind of repurpose for the next week.β
Two factors play into Arizonaβs favor this week: familiarity and warm weather, especially after the club endured cold and rainy conditions in Seattle.
βWeβre really excited to play in the heat again,β said junior Chase Sienkiewicz, who was named to the All-Pac-12 Second Team for the second straight season. βItβs definitely going to be a different factor and something to look out for.β
Sienkiewicz will have a contingent of supporters in the gallery. His father accepted a job in Dallas before the pandemic, and the family relocated from California. Sienkiewicz has two-plus years of experience playing in Texas conditions.
βItβs three hours from my home, so weβll definitely see some family out there, which will be great,β he said.
The three-day regional will also be a homecoming of sorts for Anderson, who spent three seasons as the Aggiesβ top assistant coach. While at A&M, Anderson won the Jan Strickland Award, an annual award given to the top assistant coach by Golf Coaches Association of America.
The Traditions Club course was designed by Jack Nicklaus, βso it challenges you off the tee and into the green,β Anderson said.
βIt has small greens, so itβll benefit us to play smart golf and put the ball in play off the tee. We want to put the ball in the middle of the green, because of a small green. Youβre not putting from 90 feet like you can be on some of the bigger desert courses,β Anderson said. βBut I think the course sets up really well for our team.β
The added comfort level should be a plus, too. Anderson is an expert on the College Station food scene, and said he plans on taking the team to Fuego Tortilla Grill, C&J Barbecue, J. Codyβs Steak and Barbecue and Dixie Chicken during their stay.
βI think the guys will eat pretty well this week,β Anderson joked. βIβm excited with an opportunity to return with a great squad and a team thatβs hungry β literally and figuratively.β
Sienkiewicz is hungry β starving β for an individual win. During a seven-tournament span this season, he tabbed five top-five finishes but no wins. In fact, he has yet to win a tournament in three college seasons.
βMy goals have not been accomplished and I need to work harder for my team to get better. Iβve had some accomplishments, yes, but nothing has satisfied me one bit,β Sienkiewicz said. βSo I definitely want to move on and keep plugging along for the next opportunity to present itself in the best of ways.β
Anderson said Sienkiewicz βcontinues to knock on the door, and just because the door hasnβt opened for him to get on the winning stage yet, it isnβt a failure at all.β
βIn fact, itβs the other. Itβs continuing to position yourself for opportunities,β Anderson added.
Sienkiewicz is the other half of Arizonaβs standout tandem, along with First Team All-Pac-12 selection Christian Banke, who won the Arizona Intercollegiate earlier this season. The senior has been named the UAβs Most Improved Player.
βHeβs got a very polished process and is not only a student of the game, heβs a student of the psychology, so heβs very in tune with how heβs feeling and heβs very good at controlling the emotion of good or controlling the emotion of bad. β¦ That calm and preparation has allowed him to perform at the high level heβs performed all year,β Anderson said of Banke. βQuite frankly, it wonβt be surprising to see him do it as a professional soon here, too.β
Last season, the Wildcats finished in ninth place at the NCAA regional in Washington. A change in more relatable scenery coupled with postseason experience, Anderson is hoping his two leaders and the rest of the Wildcats post a better showing this time around.
βEvery time you tee it up, thereβs experienced gained, lessons learned. Having Chase and Christian a part of the team that was so successful last year, being leaders on this team this year, we understand how to prepare and theyβve been great communicators of what we can do as a group,β Anderson said.
Last year is considered the best season of the Anderson era, with Pac-12 Golfer of the Year Brad Reeves, Tucson native Trevor Werbylo, Sierra Vista product Briggs Duce and All-Pac-12 Second Team selection David Laskin leading the way.
Sienkiewicz and others watched and learned. This week, they could make their own stamp on the Anderson era.
βThose guys taught me a lot the last couple years they were here. β¦ Learning from them on and off the course has been huge for me personally,β Sienkiewicz said.
βWeβre definitely going to carry in what we learned last year. β¦ This year, we have a very hungry team thatβs ready to attack.β
