Men's hopes high at Pac-10 Championships

After the women's first place finish in the Pacific 10 Conference Championships last week, the UA men's golf team is in its own conference championships, which begin today in Orinda, Calif., at the Orinda Country Club.

The 72-hole tournament concludes Wednesday. Competitors will play 36 holes today while the final two days of the tournament will be 18 holes.

Seven of the nation's top 46 teams will take part in the tournament, headlined by fourth-ranked Arizona. Joining the Wildcats will be defending Pac-10 champion and No. 14 Arizona State, No. 23 UCLA, No. 24 Southern Cal, No. 35 Washington, No. 43 Stanford and No. 46 California.

The Wildcats need to come up with some clutch play, something that has eluded them in past weeks, but senior Rory Sabbatini said not to worry.

"We just have struggled a little bit in the past three weeks, but if we come out and play like we should, we should do just fine," Sabbatini said.

One Wildcat who has struggled as of late is junior Andy Barnes. Barnes, ranked as high as No. 12 this season, has seen his national ranking drop to No. 19 due to inconsistent play.

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Aside from the women's golf team capturing the Pac-10 women's title last week, UA sophomore Jenna Daniels won the individual title.

When asked what she was feeling as she was walked up the 18th fairway, Daniels responded, "I was very nervous the whole round. The pressure didn't subside until the very last putt went in the cup.

"This was the first time I had led a college tournament in my career, so I was very excited going into the last day. But on the last day I became very frustrated with myself, because I felt that I was letting my team down. I wasn't thinking about the individual title as much as I was thinking about how I could help the team."

UA head coach Rick LaRose was proud of his team.

"We came to win. It was a tough field, but I felt we were tough to beat," he said. " With all five girls in the hunt, Jenna stood out and played some terrific golf. This was a breakthrough victory for her."

The women's next tournament is the NCAA Regional Tournament, which is being held May 9-11 at a site to be determined.