July 23, 2009
Cullowhee, N.C. - Eleven tournaments split over both semesters including hosting the second-annual Hummingbird Intercollegiate headline the Western Carolina 2009-10 men's golf schedule released today by head coach Gorham Bradley. The slate is divided in half with five events in the fall and six tournaments, including the Southern Conference Championship, in the spring.
"Over the past several years, we have continued to upgrade our schedule to give our team the opportunity to compete against the top teams in the country," said Bradley. "To be invited to events hosted by schools such as Vanderbilt, Florida State and the University of Kentucky speaks volumes for the strides our golf program continues to make"
Western's schedule begins and concludes at the same location. The Catamounts open the 2009-10 season at the Raines Development Group Intercollegiate, hosted by Francis Marion at the Country Club of South Carolina in Florence which is also the site of the SoCon Championships in mid-April.
"I feel giving our players the opportunity to preview the Southern Conference Championship venue during the fall has been critical to our success in the conference championship the past two years," Bradley said.
Other fall events include returning to a pair of tournaments in which WCU competed in a season ago, as well as hosting and event and traveling to a new tournament. The Catamounts will again tackle a tough field at Vanderbilt's three-day Mason Rudolph Invitational (Sept. 26-28) in Nashville, Tenn., and the Aldila Intercollegiate, co-hosted this season by SoCon-foe Chattanooga and Middle Tennessee at the Council Fire Golf Club. Western posted the program's seventh-best team 54-hole score (865) a season ago.
Sandwiched in between the aforementioned two Tennessee trips is a venture to the Firestone Invitational (Oct. 12-13), hosted by Univ. of Akron at the Firestone Country Club in Akron, Ohio.
|
|
 |
Of the six scheduled events in the spring, including the conference championship, five are repeat trips from the 2008-09 season with WCU posting four top 10 team finishes combined. The lone new tournament in the spring is the opener at the Wexford Invitational (Feb. 22-23), hosted by Francis Marion at the Wexford Plantation in Hilton Head, S.C.
March opens with the Catamounts heading to Florida for Florida State's Seminole Intercollegiate (March 12-14) at the Southwood Golf Club. The 54-hole event will be spread over a four-day period with practice rounds on the opening day. This event gives WCU golf the opportunity to compete on the National stage against many SEC and ACC golf programs. The month concludes with Western visiting conference-foe, Furman, for the Furman Intercollegiate at their on-campus course March 19-21, again playing 18 holes a day for three days to make up the 54-hole ledger.
Three events in April are culminated with the conference championship, April 18-20, and include trips to the Wyoming Cowboy Classic in Scottsdale, Ariz., and Kentucky's Bluegrass Classic in Lexington (April 10-11). WCU posted a second-place finish at the UK event a season ago.
In 2009-10, Western Carolina returns five golfers that competed in six-or-more events a season ago, led by rising senior Tanner Briele who transferred from East Carolina mid-season. In six, second semester events, the New Bern, N.C., native posted a 73.76 stroke average - the best during the spring - and included a runner-up finish at the SoCon Championship. Hometown classmate Ricky Stout ranked fourth on the overall scoring charts for WCU a season ago at 75.11, but finished the season with a career-best, fifth-place showing at the conference tournament.
The Catamounts also return seniors Benjy Davey, Rylan Lanham, and Drew Miller, with junior Caleb Marsh rounding out the upper classmen. Sophomores Kyle Wilson and transfer Ronnie Garcia will add depth, with freshmen Jonathon Davies and Trey White also competing for spots among the scoring five.
"This year's team will again be very talented and I feel very good about the job our seniors will do in leading this team. Ricky Stout, Tanner Briele and Kyle Wilson have had outstanding summers in amateur golf and we anticipate them keeping the momentum going into this season," concluded Bradley.
