Busy weekend for UA golf

In addition to Arizona, the field of competitors will include four of the top 10 teams in the country in No. 1 Duke, No. 5 Southern Cal and No. 8 Arizona State.

The tournament also boasts five of the top six ranked individual women golfers in the nation, including USC's Jennifer Rosales (No. 1) and UA junior Jenna Daniels (No. 6).

The Wildcats are coming off a first place finish at the Rainbow Challenge in Honolulu, where senior Krissie Register carted the tournament's lowest individual score.

Daniels tied for fifth place overall in the tournament and freshman Cristina Baena and junior Jill Gomric ended in a dead heat for 10th.

The defending Pacific 10 Conference individual champion Daniels said she believes that although the Wildcats have enjoyed a recent string of success, the team must be prepared for a competitive weekend.

"I think we are really confident, but we can't take anything for granted," she said. "We can't step down and we must watch out because there are lots of great teams that we have to be ready for."

The Arizona men's golf team hits the links this weekend in Lecanto, Fla., to compete in the U.S. Collegiate Golf Championships.

Recently the Wildcats have been through some rough times, including an 11th place finish at the Golf Digest Collegiate Tournament last month.

Arizona hopes this weekend's tournament will mark a turnaround as they begin a busy schedule of three tournaments in four weeks, including the Pac-10 Championships April 26-28.

Junior Derek Gillespie, ranked No. 58 in the country, carded Arizona's best score at the Golf Digest Tournament and tied for 18th with a 2-over-par 218.

UA's only senior Andy Barnes said he understands the team must improve in order to have a chance at taking home the Pac-10 trophy.

"Our expectations are to play more solid," he said. "We've been up and down, but we need four solid scores to put us in the hunt.

"We want a chance at that Pac-10 Championship."