By Curtis Acosta
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Although the Arizona men's golf team is continuing to climb up through the national rankings, the team's members still think they have not yet played their best golf. Things might be different, however, after the Wildcats compete at the Thunderbird Invitational in Tempe this weekend.
With a number of top five finishes this spring, the UA has been threatening to win a tournament, but its key golfers haven't been able to come through in the clutch. This tournament, which is being hosted by Arizona State, might be different. Most of the UA's top players have played at Karsten Golf Course before, and have had some success there. Wildcats head coach Rick LaRose is confident that the team will play well.
"I think we're getting a lot better," LaRose said. "Our chemistry is getting better."
The Wildcats are waiting for all of their top guns to play well at the same tournament. In past tournaments, the team has al- mid
ways had someone near the top of the leader board, but the support hasn't been there from the rest of the Wildcats.
Last weekend, it was Matt Bergstrom who stepped into the limelight. Bergstrom became the fourth Arizona golfer to lead the team in a tournament this spring. That kind of depth would be a positive sign for any coach, but LaRose is still waiting for the entire team to post good scores.
"Basically, if we get all five guys on the same page we're OK," LaRose said. "We just can't afford to have all five guys have a bad day at the same time."
If the Wildcats can receive consistent play from their top five players, then little doubt would exist that they could contend at any tournament. Even with an extremely talented field participating this weekend in Tempe, LaRose said he feels his team can compete with anyone.
The tournament this weekend will be not only a tune-up for the upcoming Pacific 10 Conference Championships, but also a measuring stick for the Wildcats.
"We're going to go up and see where we are going into our conference," LaRose said. "If we play well then I'll feel very happy about where we're going. If we play poorly then we've still got two weeks to kind of get us back together again."