The Arizona men’s golf team left Wednesday for the William H. Tucker Invitational in Albuquerque, N.M., in hopes of starting the 2009-2010 season off with a bang.

“”Being the first tournament, you always want to get off to a good start,”” said returning junior All-American Tarquin MacManus. “”You have to put a lot of importance on the first event.””

The tournament will be played at the Championship Course at the University of New Mexico, a par-72, 7,248-yard course that was ranked in the top 25 courses in the country by Golf Digest Magazine.

The Wildcats feel they did not quite get off to the hot start they hoped for last season when they finished seventh of 16 teams at the same event, but MacManus and company hope that this year will begin differently.

“”The last couple of years we really haven’t been able to (start off well), so I’m really looking forward to going out there and getting this one to start off the way we want it to,”” MacManus said.

Head coach Rick LaRose chose eight players to compete in the Friday-Saturday competition. The golfers include senior Rich Saferian, juniors MacManus, John Khan, Tom Conran and John Kostis, sophomore Kenji Hernandez and freshmen Stefan Cox and Trent Redfern.

Five players will make up the starting lineup, while the other three will play individually.

The first tournament is a good way for players to solidify themselves into the lineup, especially the underclassmen.

“”It’s going to be a good tournament for us to see who’s playing well because we have some new kids that came in,”” Saferian said. “”It will be a good judge of who’s going to step into our top five.””

Today and tomorrow will not only provide a chance for the Wildcats to post a top finish, but also an opportunity for the team and players alike to set the bar high for a long season.

“”We’ll see who is able to handle the pressure and compete at the level that we play at every week,”” Saferian said.