The Arizona men’s golf team walked off the course yesterday after the opening two rounds of the Pacific 10 Conference Championships at The Meadow Club in Fairfax, Calif., right in the spot it wants to be in. The Wildcats currently sit in fifth place at 4-over-par, just seven strokes behind the No. 11
team Stanford.

Entering the tournament, the Wildcats knew they would need at least a fifth place finish to qualify for the NCAA West Regionals in Seattle.

“”The new rule has made everything a lot more competitive,”” said UA head coach John Knauer. “”We are going to need at least fifth place for sure to make it in the playoffs.””

The Wildcats were led by senior Creighton Honeck, who is currently tied individually for the lead at 4-under-par. Freshman Tarquin MacManus finished the day tied for 12th place with a 1-under-par 141.

Juniors Nick Park (tied for 25th, 2 over) and Tyler Neal (tied for 33rd, 4 over) and senior Mark Lamb – competing in his first Pac-10 tournament since 2004 – (46th, 7 over) rounded out the scoring for the Wildcats. Freshman Roberto Galletti shot a 10-over-par to place 54th.

The inexperience of the team, if a factor at all, didn’t show in day one as the team played exactly as it had hoped.

“”We have a lot of youth who are inexperienced as far as tournament play goes but there is no question we are a top team to compete,”” Knauer said.