Wildcats, from Arizona and Northwestern, set for wild finish at St. Andrews

ST. ANDREWS, Scotland – As it pertains to links golf, Northwestern women’s coach Emily Fletcher knows her team is green.

Like really green.

Prior to this week’s St. Andrews Links Collegiate, the closet any of Fletcher’s players had come to links was a preseason team trip to Sand Valley, an American twist on Scottish golf in Nekoosa, Wisconsin. Over those three days in early September, the Wildcats practiced different shots in windy conditions, hoping to somehow simulate what they’d face at St. Andrews’ Jubilee and Old courses.

The prep paid off as Northwestern’s links newbies captured the stroke-play title on Tuesday with a 36-hole, 4-over total on the Jubilee that also earned the Wildcats the top seed for Wednesday’s championship bout on the Old Course with Arizona, which finished four shots back in second. Both programs will meet in the men’s final, too, with Arizona clipping a Scottish-heavy Northwestern team by six shots.

“Having that first introduction to links golf in the preseason,” Fletcher said, “and being exposed to it, and having our men’s team here – our men’s head coach David Inglis is from here; so are Cameron [Adam] and Archie [Finnie] – and those guys just talking about the conditions and how it’s different, how it’s going to be tough, get the ball on the ground; it’s all really helped our team.”

Especially Northwestern sophomore Ashley Yun, who at 5 under won the individual title by three shots over Arizona’s Charlotte Back. Though Yun was a mainstay in the Wildcats’ lineup as a freshman and led the team at the NCAA Championship with a T-19 finish, Tuesday’s individual title marked her first in college.

“Ashley was so open to seeing shots differently and really wasn’t resistant to that,” Fletcher said of Yun during their Sand Valley trip, “and I think in the end that served her well this week.”

Yun bogeyed just two holes, one each day, relying on her greatly improved short game to avoid the “silly mistakes” that used to cost her trophies. Fletcher describes Yun as having a “dry sense of humor” and is usually the first to life the spirits of her teammates, “keeping everyone loose.”

“We’ve been trying to get her to allow herself to be that way with herself, too,” Fletcher said. “She’s that person for other people, and she’s getting better at being that person for herself. She’s done such a great job with her attitude, being kinder to herself and not being too critical.”

Yun’s first reaction to receiving the winner’s silver plate: “I can eat my dinner of this tonight!”

Dinner will also taste sweeter for Arizona junior Zach Pollo, who captured the men’s individual title by two shots over teammate Filip Jakubcik and Adam, who is from Edinburgh and birdied four of his first seven holes on Tuesday afternoon to momentarily take the outright lead. Pollo bogeyed his last hole to finish at 5 under, two shots clear of the runners-up.

Pollo won Arizona’s home event, the N.I.T., as a freshman, but last fall he went through a rough patch, failing to qualify for the Wildcats’ first three tournaments.

“It was killing him,” Arizona head coach Jim Anderson said. “We ended up picking him for our fourth event, and I said to him, ‘Zach, don’t worry, you’re absolutely a part of this.’”

Pollo traveled to the Jackson T. Stephens Cup and tied for third. He’s not missed a tournament since while climbing to 80th in the world amateur rankings.

An elite ball-striker who Anderson says has a “sixth sense” for subconsciously rattling off birdies, Pollo has developed into a legitimate running mate alongside Jakubcik and Tiger Christensen, Arizona’s two highest-ranked players. Anderson’s talented trio likely have his squad as the favorites over Northwestern, though with weather forecasted to be nasty on Wednesday – 100% chance of rain with a little wind and a feels-like high of barely 50 degrees – the Wildcats from Chicago might be the sharp play.

Yun, who is from just outside of Los Angeles, certainly didn’t grow up around Scottish weather. In fact, at the 2022 AJGA’s Rolex Tournament of Champions at TPC San Antonio, Yun was ill prepared for cold and rainy conditions.

“I didn’t own rain gear or any thick clothing,” Yun remembers. “The closest thing I had were these pants with fur inside. I wore that with a couple layers. It was raining, borderline thunderstorms, and it was about 40 degrees, and I completely lost feeling in my hands. I couldn’t even swing with how many layers I was wearing.”

Yun ended up T-31.

Fletcher argues that Chicago has its fair share of brutal weather, particularly in the spring, when the team will often play in near-freezing temps. Fletcher also remembers the 2017 NCAA Championship at Rich Harvest Farms, when she led that Wildcats squad to the national runner-up showing after a week filled from adverse conditions.

“I remember buying wool socks and hand warmers and extra layers,” Fletcher said.

This time Northwestern is well equipped for whatever is thrown its way – and good thing.

Between Old Tom Morris and Mother Nature on Wednesday, it’ll be everything these Wildcats, on both sides, can handle.