The Arizona men’s golf team set a record at the N.I.T. event at Omni Tucson National Resort. But the Wildcats came up one stroke shy of winning the tournament for the second straight year.
Despite shooting a collective 50 under par Monday and Tuesday — beating the previous program mark for a 54-hole tourney by nine strokes — Arizona ended up in second behind New Mexico, which finished at 51 under. That total was one shot off the N.I.T. record set by Oklahoma State in 2022.
“We came up one shot short of defending our title, but our team made history today by shooting 50-under,” UA coach Jim Anderson said in a news release. “You have to tip your cap to New Mexico for playing some great golf, but I am incredibly proud of how our guys competed in record-breaking fashion.
“We had three guys finish in the top 10, with Tianyi (Xiong) shooting the lowest round ever by an Arizona freshman. Our program made a statement this week, and there is more great golf in our future.”
Xiong carded a 9-under 63 in the second round that marked the lowest 18-hole score ever by a UA freshman. He also tied for the fifth-lowest round in school history.
Xiong and teammate Zach Pollo finished at 12 under to tie for ninth on the individual leaderboard. Arizona’s Tiger Christensen shot 16 under to tie for third. His third-round 64 equaled his career low.
BYU’s Zac Jones was the top individual at 18 under. ASU’s Wenyi Deng came in second at 17 under.
Arizona will return to action at the John Burns Intercollegiate in Hawaii Feb. 15-17.
