Golf teams travel to Japan for season opener

The tournament begins today and continues through Friday, though the teams will remain in Japan until Sunday.

Both teams are bringing five golfers to compete.

The women's team consists of senior Krissie Register, juniors Jenna Daniels and Shannon Ingalls, sophomore Christina Monteiro and freshman Christina Baena. They will compete against Arizona State and several Japanese teams.

This is the first NCAA tournament for freshman Christina Baena, though she is no stranger to the UA golf program.

Her sister, Marisa Baena, left last season after her junior year to turn pro.

UA head coach Todd McCorkle will also be entering new territory on this trip as this is his first tournament as the head coach.

McCorkle was the assistant coach of both teams last year. The teams were separated before this season and head coach Rick LaRose stayed on as men's head coach.

"I am excited about having the team as my own and I know the tournament will be a great experience," McCorkle said. "I don't know the quality of the Japanese teams but ASU's talent is comparable to ours."

The MasterCard Collegiate Golf Rankings for Division I women's teams ranked Arizona second in the country behind Duke, while Arizona State is ranked third.

Individually, ASU sophomore Grace Park is ranked second in the country.

Arizona's Register and Daniels are ranked fifth and seventh, respectively. Register had seven top-10 finishes last season and Daniels is the defending Pacific 10 Conference Champion, leading the team in course averages.

"I think we will do really well," Daniels said. "We are bringing a good group of girls."

The UA men's team, ranked 13th in the country, will compete with No. 1 ranked Nevada-Las Vegas, No. 8 ASU, No. 11 California and eight Japanese teams.

The Wildcats playing are senior Andy Barnes, juniors David Bates and Derek Gillespie, sophomore Tim Weiss and freshman Damian Hale.

Barnes will be carrying the team with the top returning scoring average of 72.37.

Gillespie, also a leader for the team, had four top-10 finishes last season.

The structure of the tournament has each of the five players from every team competing in three rounds per day with the four best scores counting toward the standings.

Rachel Carasso can be reached via e-mail at Rachel.Carasso@wildcat.arizona.edu.