PROS

The Arizona men’s golf team got off to a great start this year after a first-place finish back in October at the Wolf Pack Classic. The team has gone through a lot of changes within its lineup and has had to make due with being one of the youngest teams in the NCAA with three freshmen in their starting lineup. Only the Pacific 10 Championship remains and the Wildcats have fallen one win below the necessary minimum of a .500 winning percentage last weekend at the ASU Thunderbird Invitational.

The Wildcats need a fifth-place finish or better to get themselves above the .500 mark and hope for a final playoff spot. Unlike much of their competition – No. 2 UCLA, No. 5 USC, Stanford and Cal – the Wildcats need this tournament to make it into the postseason.

They are led by senior Creighton Honeck and there’s no question that the young freshmen in Roberto Galletti and Tarquin MacMannus have what it takes to push this team into a top-three finish at the Pac-10 championships. This team can definitely play, they have the skill and ability, but it may come down to who wants it more.

CONS

The Wildcats have been quite inconsistent this season, finishing
as a top-team in some tournaments and finishing near the bottom in others. The team has also gone through many different lineup changes, adding and cutting players as it tries to solidify a shaky lineup.

With three freshmen having been in the starting lineup at one point, the team is rather young and inexperienced which could have a huge affect on the team as they enter into the Pac-10 Championships. With so many guys who have never been there before, it may be difficult for this team to perform well with so much pressure on the line, especially going against some highly opponents.

The Wildcats only hope may be a fifth-place finish or better, but a drop in the polls due to performance issues at the ASU tournament may have an affect on whether this team gets into the postseason.