Women's golf team looking for Pac-10 repeat

The third-ranked Arizona women's golf team goes after its second straight Pacific 10 Conference title when it travels to Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., for the 1998 Pac-10 Championships.

The tournament, which begins today and runs through Wednesday, is being held at the Tijeras Creek Golf Club. In order for the Wildcats to win their second consecutive Pac-10 crown, they will have to beat some of the best teams in the country. Seven of the top 20 teams in the nation are participating in this year's championships. Second-ranked Arizona State, sixth-ranked Stanford and ninth-ranked Oregon all plan to challenge UA.

The tournament consist of 54 holes, 18 to be played on each day. The three-round competition will be scored by stroke play and each team will consist of five players with the four lowest scores each round counting toward the team total.

Arizona will have to have big efforts from juniors Marisa Baena and Krissie Register. Baena was the overall individual champion of this tournament in 1996 and followed with a second place finish in 1997. Baena has only played in five tournaments this year due to injury, but she has placed in the top 10 in four out of the five tournaments she has played in. Baena is currently ranked 17th in the nation. Register has also done well in past Pac-10 Championships. She tied for fourth place in both 1996 and 1997. Register, who is fifth in the nation, has also been the Wildcats' most consistent performer this year, finishing in the top 25 in six out of the eight tournaments she has played.

The Arizona men's golf team struggled this weekend at the ASU Thunderbird/Savane Invitational, finishing a disappointing fifth place. The Wildcats fired a 10-over par 874, seven strokes back of tournament champion, UCLA. The Bruins surprised the field with their steady play. This is the first tournament UCLA has won all season. UCLA's three-over par 867 performance, put them three strokes ahead of second place and tournament host Arizona State.

In the individual competition, the top UA finisher was senior Rory Sabbatini. Sabbatini finished in a tie for sixth place at even par 216. Sophomore Derek Gillespie finished in a tie for 22nd place at four-over par 220. Gillespie shot the low round of the tournament, a first round, six-under par 66. Junior Andy Barnes and sophomore Ryan Meyer both tied for 33rd place at six-over par 222. The fifth best finisher for the Wildcats was junior Aaron Friedman who placed in a tie for 60th at 11-over par 227.