The Arizona men's golf team tees off today in the Pacific 10 Championships to defend its conference title in Walla Walla, Wash.
Last season, the Wildcats came from behind to win by five strokes for its third Pac-10 title with a 10-over 1,450 total. Arizona has finished second in the tournament seven times.
In its last outing, the squad tied for seventh place with Oregon at the U.S. Intercollegiate April 16-17 in Palo Alto, Calif. Arizona finished with a 54-hole total of 293 (+13), 32 strokes behind tournament winner Southern California. Sophomore Josh Esler paced the Wildcats with an 8-over 218 total, good for a tie for 23rd place.
The Wildcats are currently ranked No. 21 in the Bridgestone/GCAA Coaches Poll and No. 22 in the Golf World Coaches Poll. Sophomore Henry Liaw is ranked 49th nationally in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index and is the highest-ranked Wildcat.
Liaw and Esler join seniors Nathan Lashley and Kipp Riehle and freshmen Travis Esway and Trey Denton, as each team is made up of six athletes with the lowest five scores counting toward the team total in each round.
Arizona will play 36 holes today and 18 holes both tomorrow and Wednesday at Walla Walla Country Club, a par-71, 6,606-yard course.