Tuesday September 25, 2001

Men's golf team finishes third in weekend tournament

The UA men's golf team visited New Mexico for its first test of the season and left with some answers and a whole new set of questions.

The No.2 Arizona squad finished third out of a field of 20 teams in this weekend's William H. Tucker Invitational, in Albuquerque, N.M.

The finish secured the Wildcats their fifth-straight top-5 tournament finish.

The streak was in question after the first two rounds, but a strong third round helped the Wildcats jump from seventh to third place.

A 3-under-par-score of 285 was the low round of the day, bringing the Wildcats' final total to 871, a composite of seven-over-par.

The Wildcats came in third to host team New Mexico, who won the tournament with a 5-under-par 859 and Pepperdine, who squeezed out a one-stoke victory over Arizona, finishing at 6 over par.

UA head coach Rick LaRose said he thought the tournament served as a proving ground for some of his younger players, especially Kipp Riehle and Nathan Lashley.

"We had some real bright spots," LaRose said. "One of the bright spots was redshirt freshman Kipp Riehle. It was a fabulous performance for a kid in his first year. Our other freshman, Nathan Lashley, had a real good performance too."

Riehle, playing in his first college tournament, said he felt a little overwhelmed by the magnitude of the tournament.

"(I was) a little nervous, but I was hitting the ball pretty well," Riehle said. "I was more nervous in the days leading up to the tournament."

Riehle said he was also a little shocked at his performance, a 2-under-par 214, which was good enough to win sixth place in the individual portion of the tournament.

"It was a little surprising because it was my first tournament," Riehle said. "My chipping and putting saved me. I made a lot of up and downs."

Although there were some bright spots, some of the team's anchors had a disappointing start. Neither Junior Ricky Barnes nor sophomore Chris Nallen played up to their full potential this weekend, LaRose said. Barnes carded a 1-over-par 217 and Nallen shot a 218.

"Barnes had a bad start but finished with a good round," LaRose said. "Ricky obviously could have played better."

LaRose said the team isn't panicking despite the third-place start.

"We beat most of the teams we really needed to beat," LaRose said. "Only one less shot, and we end up second. We're optimistically enthusiastic with our performance."

This week, the team will prepare for this weekend's PING/GolfWeek NCAA Preview, in Columbus, Ohio.