Ricky Barnes

The UA men's golf team will tee it up today as the favorite at the Pac-10 Championships and will try to wrap up one of the most successful spring seasons in team history.

The only drawback this week is the emphasis on depth, as the Pac-10 Championships allow six players to play, taking the top five scores every day.

With the different scoring style and four rounds played in three days, this format makes the Pac-10 tournament one of the toughest in the country.

That could give the Wildcats trouble, but head coach Rick LaRose is still confident about their chances.

"We've been practicing pretty hard," LaRose said. "Ricky (Barnes) and (Chris) Nallen are playing well, Andrew (Medley) is playing better and even though (Reid) Hatley is struggling, we will be prepared."

With depth such an issue at the Oakmont Country Club in Glendale, Calif., the top three players will have to post low numbers to keep Arizona in the hunt.

"(Barnes, Nallen and Medley) will have to play really well," LaRose said. "The top of the lineup is our strength."

A win this week wouldn't be something different for this UA team, as it has claimed titles in four of six tournaments this spring, something overshadowed only by the 1992 national championship team that won six times in the spring.

The Wildcat squad has two players, Nallen and Barnes, in the top 15 of the Golfweek/Sargarin Performance Index, with both players named semifinalists for the Ben Hogan award, given to the nation's top collegiate golfer.

Oddly enough, Nallen has had a

statistically better year than Barnes. The junior's scoring average is lower (71.22 compared to Barnes' 71.56) in addition to his eight top-10 finishes (compared to Barnes' six).

Both will need to continue their remarkable seasons if this team wants to bring the third Pac-10 title back to Tucson.

UCLA, the host this week, is the other team to watch, mainly because it gets to play on its home course. Though Arizona might be the hottest team coming in, home course advantage makes the Bruins the team to beat, said LaRose.

"UCLA is going to be (the) favorite," LaRose said. "The conference is pretty good, and because we're playing in Los Angeles, USC is (another) good pick. At least seven teams have a good chance (to win)."

Barnes named finalist for Ben Hogan Award

Over the weekend, Barnes was named one of five finalists for the Ben Hogan Award. Barnes is joined on the list by Bill Haas of Wake Forest, Hunter Mahan of Oklahoma State, Ryan Moore of UNLV and D.J.Trahan of Clemson.

Barnes was also invited to participate as a member of the U.S. National Team and will compete at the inaugural Copa de las Americas, scheduled for June 25-28, at the Hyatt Dorado Beach Resort and Country Club in Dorado, Puerto Rico.