Sean Joyce

This weekend's U.S. Collegiate Championship, held in Tucson at the Omni Tucson National, was personified by a truly moving conclusion.

As the University of Texas began to accept its prize as the champions of an elite field, an umbrella blew over on the patio, knocking over a few chairs and almost knocking out a pedestrian.

The wind played havoc not only on the patio, but also on the course, as the eight-team field struggled through the last two days. But the UA men's golf team buckled down and posted one of its best finishes of the year, coming into the clubhouse in second place at a 3-under-par 861.

The Wildcats finished only two strokes behind the champion Longhorns. Led by sophomore Chris Nallen, UA entered the final hole with a chance at its first victory of the season.

Entering play yesterday, Arizona trailed Texas by nine strokes. UA was tied for second place with the Oklahoma State Cowboys, whose star, Hunter Mahan, shot a course-record, 10-under-par 62 before the winds started to pick up on Friday.

UA junior captain Ricky Barnes, who finished in a tie for 20th place with a three-round score of 5-over-par, described the terrible conditions of the weekend.

"The first day we had perfect conditions out here," Barnes said. "We should have taken more advantage of it. Then Saturday was just terrible. Par was a good score - the wind was just awful."

After Friday, Arizona was in eighth place, even after Nallen posted what he said was his best round of the year, a 7-under-par 65.

"I was just playing great on Friday," Nallen said. "The wind wasn't a problem and everything seemed to be going right for me."

During the last four holes yesterday, everything also seemed to being going right for Nallen as he birdied the last four holes to single-handedly keep Arizona within earshot of Texas. He posted the low round of the day with a 4-under-par 68.

Barnes also doled out praises to his teammates, who all chipped in with solid scoring yesterday.

"It was good to get scores from the bottom of the lineup," Barnes said. "That's what we need to win tournaments."

Barnes alluded to the play of junior Reid Hatley and freshman Kipp Riehle, who both posted three-round totals of 6-over-par, tying them for 24th place.

"We usually do well at the end of the season," Barnes said. "There were five of the top 10 teams in the country playing here this weekend, including the No. 1 team Georgia Tech so second place is a nice accomplishment."

Arizona looks to build on its showing this weekend in Tempe, when they compete in the Savane/ASU Thunderbird Invitational.