It took more than four seasons for the Arizona men’s golf program to deliver Jim Anderson his first victory as the Wildcats’ head coach.
To put into perspective the Wildcats’ win in the 2018 Arizona Intercollegiate: Brad Reeves, the 2021 Pac-12 Golfer of the Year, was a sophomore. And Tucson native Trevor Werbylo, who just won a Korn Ferry Tour event, was just a freshman and a year removed from his Salpointe Catholic High School days.
Four years since Anderson’s first win at the helm, the Wildcats have compiled four more victories at the Arizona Intercollegiate, captured the 2021 Pac-12 championship and — last week — won the NCAA Regional in Bryan, Texas. The Wildcats’ first regional championship since 2011 earned them a spot in the NCAA Championships, which begin Friday at Grayhawk Golf Club in Scottsdale.
The course suits them well.
“We’re all very fortunate we get to play on desert courses, and Grayhawk is one of them,” said Arizona sophomore Sam Sommerhauser, who shot a two-over in three rounds last week. “I think we’re all super confident going in there and we’re excited.”
It’s been a decade since Anderson — everybody calls him “Jimbo” — coached a team in the NCAA championships. He was an assistant at Texas A&M in 2012, when the Aggies played for an NCAA title.
“This is such a fun time of year to coach a team, because we’re done with school now, we had success just a week ago and now we have something we’re really looking forward to. … It’s the time we spend together that’s really fun,” Anderson said. “And now we’re going to be in an environment on a golf course we’re very familiar with.”
The Wildcats are familiar with the NCAAs, too. You just have to go back a few years.
Coach Rick LaRose coached the Wildcats to 21 straight appearances in the NCAA championships during his 34 seasons in charge. The Wildcats also won one national title, in 1992.
“For him to put a streak like that together, it sets a bar that’s very high and very much something that we’re aware of,” said Anderson.
Added Anderson: “The experience that we’ll pick up this year (at the NCAA championships), … regardless of the outcome this year, we’ll have that experience to draw from and know what it was like to be there. It’ll only increase our appetite to get back, and that’s how (the streak) starts.”
The LaRose-led Wildcats finished in the top half of the conference just once from 2006-12 before Anderson was named the Wildcats’ new head coach.
Arizona advanced to this week's NCAA Championships by finishing first in the Bryan (Texas) Regional.
Little by little, Anderson — a Sioux Falls, South Dakota native and New Mexico graduate — worked the UA back into relevance. It all came together last season, when the Wildcats won the Pac-12 title and briefly earned a No. 1 ranking. Anderson was named Pac-12 Coach of the Year.
Arizona’s starting five from last season was nearly gutted, but the Wildcats returned graduate senior Christian Banke, who won the Arizona Intercollegiate earlier this year, as well as 6-foot-4-inch junior Chase Sienkiewicz. The UA also brought back second-year UCLA transfer Chaz Aurilia, son of former big-leaguer Rich Aurilia, and Sommerhauser. Freshman Johnny Walker, a Chandler native, rounds out Anderson’s starting five for the NCAA championships. Junior Aidrac Chan will travel with the team as a reserve player.
This year’s Wildcats finished 11th at the Pac-12 Championships, but bounced back to lead all three days at the Bryan Regional despite being the No. 6 seed.
Anderson’s hoping to see a repeat of the regional success, which he called “a complete team effort.”
“We were led by Chase this week with his second-place finish,” he said. “The difference was Sam’s great play, opening the first round and shooting an even par. He had even pars on the bookends (of the round). Johnny and Chaz, same thing. We just had four — really five — scores in every round that was going to work in the regional championship. It was a great recipe for the scoring component, and that’s indicative of the players we have.”
This week’s tournament has been a decade in the making for Anderson. After going years without winning a tournament, the Wildcats have a chance to win the biggest one of all.
“This is certainly something we celebrate and work on as a team, and it’s a place that our team has seen success in the past,” Anderson said.
“Yes, this is a stepping-stone opportunity for us, but we also recruit some of the best players across the country and the world. We tee it up in the best conference to compete in and we’ve won that conference. We know this is a space we’re comfortable competing in and something we feel like we have control in performing and playing at this level.”
