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As the fifth-ranked UCLA men’s golf team heads into the opening round of the Pac-10 Tournament, the team appears to be in great shape.

The young Bruins will enter the tournament as the top-ranked team, but will face vastly more experienced veteran teams who have proven themselves in past championship tournaments.

But youth has not been much of a problem for this year’s team, which is comprised of three freshman, two sophomores and one junior. Freshman Erik Flores, ranked at No. 9 in the nation by GolfWeek, is now the highest ranked golfer competing in the Pac-10s this year.

UCLA as a team is also not something to be taken lightly. The team has won an impressive ten tournaments, placing themselves just three wins away from tying a UCLA record. In contrast, the Bruins’ Pac-10 championship team of 2004 had nine tournament wins.

“I think we’re ready to go,” coach O.D. Vincent said. “We’re going into the Pac-10s prepared. This is a tournament that anyone can win.”

“Rankings aside, there are five teams in our conference that are better than their ranking and have a legitimate shot at winning the championship,” Vincent said. “In terms of experience, UCLA is the underdog.”

Vincent cited USC (ranked 20th), Washington (ranked 30th), Stanford (ranked 45th), Arizona State (ranked 7th) and Arizona (ranked 26th) as the five most dangerous teams in the tournament.

Washington took the tournament last year, and will be led again by a seasoned group of golfers, including the 2005 Pac-10 individual champion Erik Olson and the 2005 NCAA individual champion James Leep.

UCLA, however, is coming off of the momentum from beating USC, Stanford, two of their main rivals, in last week’s U.S. Intercollegiate tournament.

“We’re going to have to play really good to win,” junior Chris Heintz said of their chances of winning the Pac-10 championship. “(But) if we play close to our best golf, we should do it.”

Flores, the freshman leader of the team, had similar thoughts.

“We think we have a really good chance to win (the Pac-10s),” Flores said. “We’re pretty anxious to play.”

The Bruins will play two rounds of 18 holes today followed by one last round on Tuesday. The top five players of each six-man team will be scored and the champion team will be crowned after Tuesday’s round.