Arizona men's golf has 'talented squad,' 'tough team' entering NCAA Championships

For the second time in three years, the Arizona men’s golf team will have a shot at a national championship — this time when they compete at the NCAA Championships at Omni La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California.

The NCAA Championships tee off Friday with 30 teams playing 54 holes of stroke-play, before the field is narrowed down to final eight teams. Then, those eight programs will take part in match-play competition for the final rounds that conclude on Wednesday.

If Arizona is fortunate enough to last until the finish line, the Wildcats will play seven rounds of golf in six days.

Determining who will likely lead Arizona at the NCAA Championships is challenging to guess. Anyone can have “their moment.”

At the Purdue Regional last week in West Lafayette, Indiana, Arizona senior Sam Sommerhauser finished 2 under par and tied for 14th place on the individual leaderboard. Junior Tiger Christensen, a Hamburg, Germany native who won two tournaments this spring, tied for 18th after shooting 1 under. Czech Republic product Filip Jakubcik, who won the Western Intercollegiate earlier this season, shot 2 over par and ended the regional tied for 27th.

“We’ve had a great year,” Arizona men’s golf head coach Jim Anderson said. “We’ve had different guys step up at different tournaments, and we feel like we have a really, really good team.

“Every week when we tee it up, we have the capability to put one, two or even three guys in the Top 10,” Anderson added. “This last week, Sam Sommerhauser, our senior, led the way at the NCAA Regional we played up at Purdue.

Anderson said his team saw “all sorts of conditions” in West Lafayette, Indiana.

“It was a test and it set us up well for our team, because we have a talented squad and a tough team. Fortunately for us, we hung tough for all three rounds.”

Leading up to the NCAA Championships, Anderson joined ESPN Tucson’s “Spears and Ali” to preview the event and share what the team’s focus is heading into Friday.

How does this stage change your team’s approach and mindset?

A: “For us, it’s reminding them that it’s a game and it’s something they enjoy doing and it’s something they’ve done so many times over and over again. Sure, the stage is bigger and the lights are a little brighter, but it’s still the same game fundamentally.

“It’s OK to embrace that moment and go out and chase it. That’s something our guys have done. We gotta be careful, because it’s a razor’s edge. If you make it bigger than it needs to be, then it becomes difficult to perform. On the other hand, we don’t want to dismiss it as just another tournament, because it’s not.

“Being authentic and being honest and real, but trying our best to enjoy it, is the message we’ve conveyed.”

The golf course at Omni La Costa Resort and Spa recently finished a $20 million renovation project that was orchestrated by renowned golf course designer Gilbert Hanse and Jim Wagner. What are notable traits that you’ve noticed?

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A: “Gil Hanse has done some amazing restorations, and one that I can think of, that I was just blown away by, when I first got to play the Pac-12 championships over 10 years ago at L.A. Country Club.

“He’s probably one of the most famous architects in the modern game now. He’s done restorations, renovations, and he did his own design for the Olympics’ course. He does a good job of blending the earth with the shots that are required. In golf architecture terms, he’s a little bit of a minimalist. He doesn’t move a ton of earth to try and create challenges the hole presents.

“I think the course will firm up and play a lot faster as the week goes on.

“The emphasis for us and championship golf is to put the ball in the right spots, which a lot of times is below the hole. Leave yourself an uphill putt or an uphill chip, because that’s where you can score from. When you are out of position, it’s important that we do everything we can to put the ball back in position. We did a really good job of that at Purdue, and if we can continue doing that this week, good things are in store for the team.”

Sommerhauser, what’s his story?

A: “Sam has been with us since 2020 as a Covid high school graduate. He’s in his senior year now, and with a spring sport, there’s no more plus-years for the guys who graduated in 2020. He didn’t get to play a ton his first year, we only competed for one semester that year. But he’s pretty much been in the lineup since his sophomore year and on.

“He continues to impress. He’s very reliable.

“He’s grew up in NorCal, where we’ve had a lot of really good players come from. He works really hard and he’s a guy we can count on. He’s done a terrific job in all facets of golf, and it’s really cool to see him hit his stride at the finish line, because that’s why you do it.

:That’s why you go through the process and go through the sophomore-year struggles, junior-year challenges and now he’s in his senior playing for his second national championship in three years. He’s ready to lead us, so it’s exciting.”

What’s your message to the team leading up to the NCAA championships?

A: “We put together a schedule for what we’re doing each day.

“We have organized guys for the most part, and as long as they’re familiar with the schedule and there’s no surprises and we have a schedule that we stick to, our guys do a really good job. They know what to do before each round, each practice round, and we’re going to do our best to have fun and keep them loose.”