Nov. 2, 2009
Sapphire, N.C. - Western Carolina and its men's golf team will wrap up the fall portion of its 2009-10 schedule this Monday and Tuesday, Nov. 2-3 as it hosts the 18-team, 102-golfer, Hummingbird Intercollegiate at the par 71, 6,767-yard Country Club of Sapphire Valley. The 18-team field is the largest in tournament history.
The 36-hole event will begin with tee times starting at 9:00 am on Monday morning, with the final 18 holes slated for Tuesday. Temperatures should reach into the upper 50s both days, with lows dipping into the upper 30s for a slight chance of early morning frost on the mountainous layout.
Fans can follow all the action of the Hummingbird Intercollegiate with live scoring through www.GolfStatResults.com.
"We are once again proud to host a Division I men's golf tournament in Western North Carolina and could not have a better venue than the Country Club of Sapphire Valley with which to showcase our program," said Western Carolina head men's golf coach, Gorham Bradley. "Thanks to the members and staff at Sapphire Valley, this tournament is one many look forward to attending and want to come back to every year. The field this year will again make for a very competitive two rounds and we hope to close out the fall portion of our schedule strong in our own home event."
The field includes five teams ranked inside the GolfStat top-100 rankings including No. 30 Chattanooga, No. 53 Vanderbilt, No. 62 Furman, No. 89 Wofford and No. 92 East Carolina.
In addition to the host Catamounts, UTC, Furman and Wofford, the field also includes Southern Conference foes Appalachian State, College of Charleston, Elon, and Samford. Rounding out the field are Akron, Gardner-Webb, Francis Marion, High Point, Kentucky, Mercer, Radford and Winthrop.
All told, a combined 13 of this year's 18 teams are returning from last year's event.
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Last season, Vanderbilt again contended for the title only to see Central Florida hold off the Commodore rally over the last three holes to claim the team championship. Vandy's Hudson Johnson claimed individual championship honors as the Commodores carded a tournament single-round low of 275 on the final 18 holes, but came up a stroke short, 557-to-558.
Johnson, who entered the final day tied for second after an opening round 68, shot eagle with a hole-in-one on the par 3, 187-yard 16th before shooting par on the 17th. He birdied the 460-yard par 5, 18th to card 65 and win the individual medalist honors with a two-day total of 133. He edged out UCF's David Johnson (134) by a stroke, with the duo going toe-to-toe in the day's final pairing.
Akron (578) finished third in the event, with SoCon foes Elon (584) and WCU (587) rounding out the top five.
Western Carolina enters the event looking for its first team top 10 since the season-opening Spring Hill Suites Intercollegiate at the Country Club of South Carolina. The Catamounts finished second, just two strokes off the pace in the opener, but have failed to crack the top 10 in each of its last three tournaments against stout competition.
Senior Ricky Stout leads the squad with a 71.91 stroke average after picking up his first career victory back on Oct. 12-13 at the Firestone Invitational in Akron, Ohio. Stout has paced WCU in each of is last three tournaments. After leading the squad at the season-opener, senior Tanner Briele has struggled with 42nd representing his best finish since. However, the home tournament could be just what he needs to get back on track and lower his seasonal 74.45 average. Briele debuted in third on Western's all-time career stroke average leader board.
Joining Stout and Briele for the Catamounts will be senior Drew Miller, sophomore Kyle Wilson - who posted a career-best sixth-place finish at the season opener - and freshman Trey White.
Western Carolina will also have four players tee off as individual competitors over the two-day, 36-hole tournament. Seniors Benjy Davey and Rylan Lanham as well as freshmen Jonathan Davies and Ronnie Garcia, with the latter making his collegiate debut, at the Hummingbird Intercollegiate.
The Country Club of Sapphire Valley is a private, member-owned club that features a newly renovated valley golf course, new clubhouse, state-of-the-art fitness center and tennis center. The course meanders through the backdrop of a mature hardwood forest and scenic mountains that provide for breath taking views and a natural setting. The course, which sits on a level valley floor despite its mountainous surroundings, was originally designed by George Cobb and recently updated by Bill Bergin.
Again, live scoring for the tournament can be found through CatamountSports.com or GolfStatResults.com. A complete recap and results will be posted at CatamountSports.com at the conclusion of each round.
