UW goes young against deep Pac-10 field

For the past six years, Arizona State's men's golf team has been at the top of the Pac-10. With a lineup featuring plenty of PGA hopefuls, the Sun Devils are once again the team to beat at the Pac-10 championships this weekend at Stanford. Highlighting the ASU lineup is U.S. amateur champion Jeff Quinney, who also took part in the Masters earlier this month, and Matt Jones, who is ranked 15th in the country and has roughly the same stroke average as Quinney.

But in a Pac-10 tuneup last week at the par-71 Stanford Golf Course, Arizona stormed past ASU for the top spot.

Husky coach O.D. Vincent believes there are eight teams with a legitimate shot at the title. Among the title contenders are the Huskies, who feature the youngest lineup in the conference. Three sophomores and three freshmen will represent Washington.

The UW finished 10th last weekend but used a different lineup than it will this weekend. By using different players last week, the UW determined who would fill in the fifth and sixth spots on the conference tourney lineup while resting its regular starters from the weekly travel grind. The Huskies were the only team from the Pac-10 that tried the lineup switch.

"Everyone else played their regular players (last week), and I think those guys will get a little bit tired," Vincent said. "I'll look like a genius if it works, and if not, then I won't."

Washington's top players last week at Stanford were sophomore Derek Berg and freshman Joe Ramos as both earned spots for the conference championships. Berg finished with a 68 in the final round for a 1-over-par 214 total, and Ramos shot a 218. Junior Gordy Scutt struggled finishing in 102nd place. He won't make the trip to the Pac-10 championships after competing the past two years. Of the six players making the trip, the UW will count its top five scores over four rounds of play.

"It's a totally different dynamic to have a six-player-count-five event," Vincent said. "And we have the advantage of having a lot of players that have a lot of experience. If you look at our lineup from top to bottom, playing time has been more equally distributed than most teams, who have four or five guys play a bulk of the rounds and some guys who don't play at all."

Washington's top players, freshmen Brock Mackenzie and Corey Prugh, are both looking forward to the extra round.

"I really like [four rounds]. I think it helps because most of the time I'm pretty consistent," Mackenzie said. "So, usually the cream rises to the top the more times you play."

The last two tournament rounds played by Mackenzie yielded consecutive 68s at the ASU Invitational in Tempe, Ariz. Filling the final two spots on the Husky roster are sophomores John Robertson and Conner Robbins. For Robertson, the key to success at the Pac-10 championships is on the green.

"For me, I believe putting is very crucial and critical to scoring well," Robertson said. "I'm going to prepare myself to make as many putts as I can."

The Huskies play the first two rounds today paired with Washington State, and will be the first group to tee off.