By Jacinda Sweet
Arizona Daily Wildcat
In most situations, a team gets better when it competes against the best. The 10th-ranked Arizona women's golf team is hoping that is the case.
The Wildcats travel to Northern California Oct. 20-22 for the 32nd-annual Stanford Women's Golf Tournament. The field is made up of 11 of the top 25 teams in the country, including No. 1 San Jose State, No. 3 Arizona State, No. 4 Stanford and No. 8 UCLA.
This is the third tournament of the year for the Wildcats, who have practically gained a season of experience in the last two.
Arizona placed sixth overall at the season-opening Rolex Fall Preview, which featured teams most likely to compete for the NCAA championship. Two weeks ago at the Dick McGuire Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M., Arizona finished third behind UCLA and Texas with a 54-hole total of 907.
A key part of the Wildcats' success has been the play of freshman Maria Baena, who tied for first place at the McGuire Invitational and leads the Wildcats with a 72.50 stroke average.
"It's been great having Baena," said UA head golf coach Rick LaRose. "We are very pleased with her play."
Arizona has also seen improvements in Krissie Register, a freshman from Roswell, Ga. Register earned her first top-10 finish at the McGuire Invitational, tying for ninth place at 223.
"Krissie really gets the job done," said UA assistant golf coach Tom Brill. "She'll do whatever it takes to help the team."
Finishing seventh in last year's tournament, Arizona added senior Jeanne Anne Krizman to the roster in hopes of being more competitive.
"We needed to get her in there," La Rose said. "She'd been playing well and we wanted to give her a chance."