If the formula for playin g a few good rounds of golf is great weather and home- course advantage, then the Arizona women's golf team will already have two things going for it when the Pacific 10 Conference Championships start today.

The tournament will be played through Wednesday at the Raven Golf Course at Sabino Springs. The course is laid out as a par 72 over 6,127 yards.

The Wildcats finished fourth at last year's championships. But leading coming into this year's tournament, UA is the winner of three-straight events, the last coming at the Lady Buckeye Invitational.

The Wildcats are also hoping to experience a little d­j· vu. The last time the Wildcats won three-straight was the 1991-92 season. That year, the fourth-straight victory was at the Pac-10s.

Despite that bit of trivia, No. 1 UCLA and No. 3 Arizona State are considered the teams to beat as the tournament opens, but with fifth-ranked UA in the hunt.

Other Pac-10 teams ranked include Stanford (ninth), Southern Cal (12th) and Washington (15th).

Leading the Wildcats are freshmen Krissy Register and Maria Baena. Register placed second at the Lady Buckeye to claim her fifth top-10 finish of the year.

"I think she's got a great chance to be an All-American," UA assistant coach Tom Brill said. "She's really playing with a lot of confidence right now."

Baena came in tied for third at the Lady Buckeye, but leads the Wildcats with seven top-10 finishes on the year, including two individual championships.

"Coaching her is a real joy," Brill said. "Competing is fun because she is very intense. She has all the qualities of a great player, tremendous will and intensity. She is a fantastic talent."

Rounding out the Arizona lineup is sophomore Heather Graff - last year's Pac-10 runner up - Christina Tollerton and senior Jeanne Anne Krizman.