Tucson blind to baseballās rebirth UA All-Star golfer heads to Far East

How would you like to travel all across Asia, staying in senatorial suites at American Army bases and enjoying the cultures of Korea, China and Japan?

Better yet, how would you like to do all of that for free, the only catch being you have to play about 18 rounds of golf in a four-week period?

Sound good?

It probably sounds even better to UA sophomore golfer Christina Monteiro, who left last week for Seoul, South Korea, for a monthlong Asian tour as part of the NCAA Pac-10 All-Star Women's Golf Team.

The tour, which will include seven days in South Korea, 12 days in Japan, four days in Hong Kong and three days in mainland China, is an opportunity for eight women golfers to explore unfamiliar cultures, said tour organizer Larry Wheat.

"It's an experience that money can't buy," he said. "They're going to really grow from the standpoint of understanding other cultures."

Wheat, who has run the program since its inception 17 years ago, said the tour has developed quite a bit since his first year when the trip was a fund-raiser for the UCLA women's golf team.

"We had to sell the girls' golf bags to get out of town," he said.

In the mid-1980s, the NCAA passed a rule stating teams could only travel abroad once every four years, something Wheat called "a blessing in disguise."

At that point, the Pac-10 was the Pac-west for women's golf, with Arizona, Arizona State, UCLA, USC and Stanford the only teams. Wheat said that once the tour became a collection of conference players, "it just kind of grew."

The tour now has several American and Asian sponsors that cover all costs for the trip. Nike and Adidas have also been sponsors in the past.

In addition to playing Korean, Japanese and Chinese teams, the women will also play American servicemen during their stay at Army and Air Force bases throughout the region.

"The military makes it really comfortable, like a little bit of home," Wheat said. He added that at some bases, like Camp Zama in Japan, the women would each get their own rooms, the same rooms used to house visiting senators and diplomats.

"It's a great trip for the kids," he said, though "it is a long time to be away from home."

Monteiro, a physiological science major, said she was skeptical about the trip at first but eventually she decided, "It's a free trip. How could I pass that up?"

Another plus, Monteiro said, is that Oregon State assistant women's golf coach Charles Kingsbaker will coach the women while they are in Asia.

Kingsbaker and Monteiro first met when he was a counselor at the Stanford golf camp she attended when she was 16.

"When I heard Charles was our assistant that just made it all the more easier," she said. "He knows what he's doing."

Monteiro said she has been to Japan before, but she was only 10 years old and didn't get to fully experience the culture.

"I loved it when I was over there," she said. "Japan is one of my favorite countries."

After playing for the University of Arizona sparingly in her freshman year, Monteiro said that while she wants to have fun in Asia, she is still going to concentrate on golf.

"Golf is what I do," she said. "We can't wait to see what kind of players they have over there."

Kingsbaker, who just completed his first year as a coach for Oregon State after a four-year playing career with the Beavers, said the job of coaching the team became his by default when none of the Pac-10 head coaches were able to go on the trip.

"It's going to be an unbelievable experience," he said.

Kingsbaker said he remembers Monteiro as a "great player" with "a lot of potential."

"She's got a lot of ability," he said. "She's going to be a real good player."

Both Wheat and Kingsbaker said the tour would expose the women to the travel conditions they would have to endure if they were to play professionally in the future.

"The more times you can put yourself in a situation that's going to help you, you need to do that," Kingsbaker said.

Monteiro said that while she is still a long way from being ready to be a professional, it is still a goal of hers.

"I'm not going to try if I'm not ready," she said, "but it sure beats working."