Men's Golf Set for Big 12 Championship
April 28, 2005 | Men's Golf
April 28, 2005
LUBBOCK, Texas - The No.27 Texas Tech men's golf is set to compete at the 2005 Big 12 Championship hosted by Texas A&M in Trinity, Texas, April 29-May 1. The Red Raiders are looking to top their previous best of fifth at the Championships as they enter the event seeded third behind the No.1 and No.2 seeds in Oklahoma State and Texas.
The event will be hosted for the first time at Whispering Pines Golf Club, par 72, which features 18 holes spanned across 7,330 yards of course. The 2005 Big 12 Championship format consists of a total of 54 holes. This marks only the second time the Championships have not been hosted at the Prairie Dunes Course (1997-2002, 2004) as the 2003 Championships were held in Tulsa, Okla., at Southern Hills Country Club.
The Oklahoma State Cowboys enter the event ranked second nationally, and are seeking their fourth Big 12 title. The Cowboys won the inaugural championship in 1997 then repeating in 1998. The last title for OSU came in 2000. Defending champion, the University of Texas, is also looking to add to its three titles. Texas (2002-2004) has won the last three championships. Kansas (1999) and Baylor (2001) are the only other Big 12 schools to hoist the title, each claiming one title over the nine-year period of the championships.
The 2004 individual medalist was Texas' Jason Hardwick. Texas boasts two individuals who have taken the individual title home while OSU has the most with five. Baylor and Oklahoma each have one individual who ha claimed the individual honor.
The Red Raiders are entering the event after finishing in a tie for fifth in 2004, and in fifth in 2003. Tech's fifth-place finish is its best-ever finish at the Championships.
Representing the Red and Black this weekend will be Tech's stroke-average leader sophomore Oscar Floren with a 72.92, followed by junior Andrew Dresser carding a 73.86. Rounding out the competitors are senior Shaun Melville (74.57), junior Tyler Symons (75.30) and junior Nicolas Allain (75.34).
Dresser is making his third appearance at the Championships while Floren and senior Shaun Melville will be making their second. Dresser's best championship-finish came in 2003 when he finished tied for 10th. Floren finished tied for ninth in last year's Big 12 Championship while Melville finished tied for 47th. Making their first appearance in the Championships will be junior-college transfers Allain and Symons.
Tech's road to its first title will not be easy as it will be in company with some of the nation's best men's golf programs. Leading the field is No.2 Oklahoma State and No.13 Texas. Rounding out the field, in order of national rank, are No.27 Texas Tech, No.34 Oklahoma, No.35 Kansas, No.42 Texas A&M, No.49 Baylor, No.66 Kansas State, No.67 Missouri, No.72 Colorado, Nebraska and Iowa State.
Tech will begin competition on Friday teeing off at 8 a.m. Tech will tee of with Texas and OSU at hole one, while Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas A&M will follow the first group teeing of at 8:50 a.m. Teeing off at hole 10 will be Baylor, Kansas State and Missouri at 8 a.m., folllowed by Colorado, Iowa State and Nebraska at 8:50 a.m.
Second- and third-round pairings will be based of the previous rounds results with seeds place in a horseshoe arrangement.
Second and Third Round Pairings:8 a.m.: 1st Tee: 4,5,6 10th Tee: 7,8,98:50 a.m. 1st Tee: 1,2,3 10th Tee: 10,11,12
The Big 12 Championship will be covered with live scoring at www.golfstat.com. Results can also be found at Texas Tech's official website at www.texastech.com at the conclusion of each day's competition.
Players Mentioned
