Red Raiders Continue Southern Tour
October 05, 2007 | Men's Golf
Oct. 5, 2007
LUBBOCK, Texas - Texas Tech will touch down in the southeast for the third time this season as the men's golf team competes in its second tournament in as many weeks in the state of Alabama. The No. 11 Red Raiders tee off Monday at the Jerry Pate National Intercollegiate, hosted by the University of Alabama at the Old Overton Golf Club in Birmingham.
The tournament is the third of the season and the third down south as the Red Raiders opened the season at the prestigious Carpet Capital Collegiate in Rock Face, Ga., followed by the Shoal Creek Intercollegiate, hosted by UAB in Shoal Creek, Ala., two weeks ago.
Twelve teams make up this year's field in Birmingham for the tournament, beginning with a practice round on Sunday at Old Overton Golf Club. Alabama, the tournament's defending champion, hosts a field that includes Auburn, Brigham Young, East Tennessee State, Florida, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, North Carolina, Texas, Texas Tech, UAB and UNLV. The event consists of 36 holes Monday and 18 Tuesday.
Seven of the teams are ranked among the Top 35 in the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings, including No. 4 Alabama, No. 10 Auburn, No. 11 Texas Tech, No. 19 Florida, No. 23 UAB, No. 28 ETSU and No. 32 Texas.
"We got in this tournament last year for the first time and finished second," Texas Tech Head Coach Greg Sands said. "It's a tournament a lot of teams would like to have the opportunity to compete in. We are looking forward to going back and see if we can't compete for the title. It was a birdie-fest last year. The conditions were tough, so I'm anxious to get back there and see what happens."
Southern hospitality has been prevalent in each of Texas Tech's previous trips this season. The Red Raiders finished ninth in a field loaded with top 25 teams at the Carpet Capital, including placing ahead of several teams ranked ahead at the time and only four spots behind then-No. 4 Georgia. Two weeks ago at the Shoal Creek Intercollegiate, sophomore Will Griffin birdied the final two holes to claim a share of the individual title, while the Red Raiders won their first tournament since March 2006. Freshman Sergio Franky provided a birdie on No. 17 to aid the cause as Franky and sophomore Matt Smith also claimed top 10 finishes.
Griffin, the nation's 13th-ranked golfer, is leading the Red Raiders with a 71.3 stroke average and is fourth nationally in fairways hit. He opened the season with a sixth-place finish at the Carpet Capital and followed with a share of medalist honors at Shoal Creek. Joining Griffin in Birmingham is Santiago Rivas, who is averaging 74.0 strokes this season; Matt Smith, averaging 74.6 strokes; Sergio Franky, averaging 75.0 strokes; and freshman Nils Floren, who is making his first tournament appearance.
"Will's been playing well for us. He finished second there last year as a freshman and had a school-record round of 62," Sands said. "We're playing well right now. We had a good end to the week and Nils kind of stepped up and won a qualifier to make the trip. It was hard to change the lineup after how well we've done, but Nils played above and beyond and secured a spot. He was consistent all week."
Players Mentioned
