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Tough opponents in Tucson for women's golf tournament

In what could be a preview of the NCAA Championships in May, 16 of the nation's top 25 women's golf teams will be in Tucson this week for the Arizona Wildcat Invitational.

Among the teams in the field are No. 2 Duke, No. 3 Southern California, No. 4 Arizona State and No. 5 Georgia.

The top-ranked Wildcats, fresh off their team title at the TRW Regional Challenge on Feb. 9 in California, will rely on their balanced line-up to carry them through the three-day tournament at the Randolph Park Golf Club.

Sophomore Christina Baena said having four solid golfers behind senior Jenna Daniels - ranked No. 1 in the nation - helps the team's confidence.

"You know that if you don't have a good day, we're still going to have a good day as a team," she said.

In the tournament, which begins today, the four lowest individual scores for each team are counted, while the fifth is thrown out.

Baena said that although any team could come away with the title, she expects Duke, Georgia and Southern California to present the biggest challenge for Arizona.

In the Wildcats' last outing of the fall season, they came from behind on the final day of the Golf World Invitational in Hilton Head, S.C., to defeat the Blue Devils by one stroke, 875-876.

Duke is the defending national champion and has won 13 event titles during the past two years.

Baena said Randolph is a course where low scores are fairly common, which should make for a very competitive tournament.

"It's a course where you can go very low," she said.

Junior Christina Monteiro, who tied for fourth in the TRW after carding a 2-over-par 215, said the team had a good week of practice in preparation for the tournament.

"Everybody looks like they're in really good shape," she said, adding that they have devoted a lot of time to the short game.