Golf Heads to Macon, Ga. to Compete in Brickyard Collegiate
10/9/2009 1:35:01 PM | Men's Golf
54-hole event takes place Saturday through Monday
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The 14th-ranked University of North Florida golf team will compete in the third annual Brickyard Collegiate Golf Championship Saturday through Monday, Oct. 10-12, in Macon, Ga.
The tournament, hosted by Atlantic Sun foe Mercer, will be played at the Brickyard at Riverside Golf Club. The Brickyard club will play a traditional par-72 this year, a shift from last year's par-70 format, and feature 18 holes played each day. The course has also been extended slightly to a distance of 7,175 yards. Round one begins on Saturday morning when teams begin teeing off from the first and tenth holes at 8:30 a.m.
A total of 15 teams will participate in the 54-hole tournament, including 10 of Golfweek's top 50 teams in the nation. The field includes: North Florida, Mercer, No. 29 Augusta State, No. 24 Chattanooga, Charlotte, Clemson, No. 7 Florida State, No. 39 Georgia, No. 21 Georgia Tech, No. 45 LSU, No. 16 Michigan, Mississippi, Penn State, No. 38 Virginia Commonwealth and No. 49 Virginia Tech.
In the first two years of the event Georgia has dominated the field, winning the team title in back-to-back years. In the 2008 tournament, the individual title was taken by Georgia Tech's Cameron Tringale who shot a 1-over par 271.
“The Brickyard is another good, challenging field,” said UNF golf coach Scott Schroeder. “We get to play against some other schools within the Southeast in Georgia, Georgia Tech and Clemson. The golf course is more difficult than the one we just played, it's a lot longer and also a lot hillier, so it's a different style than the one we just played. It's just a challenge to the guys to go show just how good they really are. It is also the first time we get to play three 18-hole rounds, which is something I think the guys really like versus those marathon 36-hole days. So, it's going to be a good test for us.”
The five golfers competing this weekend for UNF are seniors Jordan Gibb and J.C. Horne, junior Chris Kennedy, sophomore Sean Dale and freshman Kevin Phelan.
The Ospreys have finished second out of 17 teams and fifth out of 15 in their two tournaments played this fall.
Leading the way for North Florida is Dale who is currently ranked 15th in the country. He captured the individual title at the Wolf Run Intercollegiate and followed that up with a tie for 24th at the Gary Koch Intercollegiate. Kennedy posted a ninth-place finish at the Gary Koch and is ranked 50th in the nation.
After the Brickyard, UNF will finish off the fall season at the David Toms Intercollegiate, Oct. 26-27, in Baton Rouge, La.
