UW golf team leads by Maier

UW golf team leads by Maier

The Cody native burst on the scene as the Cowboys' most consistent player as a freshman. He carried a team-best 74.7 stroke average while finishing in the top 25 five times in 13 tournaments.But as a sophomore he had just two top 25 finishes in 12 outings.Maier does not refer to his slump as the dreaded sophomore jinx, but he admits he was at a crossroads.He and the rest of the Cowboys began the Mountain West Conference Men's Golf Championships on Watson Says Just Play Thursday on the Catalina Course at the OMNI Tucson National Golf Club in Tucson, Ariz.The other rounds will also start at 8 a.m. each day on Friday and Saturday. The course plays at a par of 71 at 7,144 yards.With his renewed focus, Maier had one of the best seasons of any Cowboys golfer last year.He topped the 92-man field at the UW Desert Intercollegiate in Palm Desert, Calif., with an 8-under-par 208, the second-best tourney finish in Cowboys history. Maier peaked with a No. 46 national ranking in the GolfStat Cup with 10 top 25 and four top 10 finishes.He also became the fifth UW golfer to qualify for the NCAA Regionals, placing 24th with a three-round total of 222 (4 over).He picked up where he left off this year as a senior by placing in the top 15 nine times.His highest finishes where tied for third at the Air Force Falcon Invite (3 under) in the fall and third at the University of Arizona Invitational (2 under) in the spring.Maier is ranked third in the MWC with a 0.29 average against par and sixth with an average of 72.10 strokes per round.The other Cowboys competing are: seniors Phil Henzlik and Zach Zaremba; junior Mike May; and sophomore Clinton Boutelle.