Bulldog Golfers Launch 2006 Season At UCF/Rio Pinar Intercollegiate
State is making its second consecutive appearance in the UCF/Rio Pinar Intercollegiate. In 2005, head coach Clay Homan's squad placed ninth in the 18-team field. Departed senior Joe Deraney came up a stroke short of his first collegiate title in the UCF-hosted event. He lost to the Golden Knight's Andreas Hoegberg in a playoff.
The Maroon and White line up includes freshmen Carlos Sainz, Jr., Noah Goldman and making his first appearance in the Bulldog line up will be Brian Mason from Dallas, Texas. Juniors Jake Lambert and Josh Oller will round out the starting five. Saniz, Jr. led the squad during the fall semester with six top-20 finishes and a 72.56 stroke average.
The tournament field features 18 teams, nine of which from the Southeast District. In the initial district rankings released by Golfweek, MState ranked 18th. Other district teams competing this week include Southern Mississippi, UCF, Mississippi, South Florida, Memphis, Tulane, South Alabama and Mercer. The rest of the field consists of Davidson, Furman, Lamar, Louisville, Michigan, Nevada, Texas-Arlington, UNC-Wilmington and Wichita State.
Rio Pinar Country Club course is a par 72 and spans over 6,978 in length. The course served as host to the Florida Citrus Open, which is now the Bay Hill Invitational on the PGA Tour, from 1966-78.
Competition will get underway Monday morning with the opening round, followed by the second round in the afternoon.