Tech Golf Goes on Title Defense
September 19, 2008 | Men's Golf
Sept. 19, 2008
LUBBOCK, Texas - Texas Tech placed three golfers among the top ten at the Shoal Creek Intercollegiate last season en route to the first of three team titles. The No. 19 Red Raiders begin defense of that title Monday in Birmingham, Ala., at the Shoal Creek Golf and Country Club.
Live scoring of the Shoal Creek Invitational can be found throughout the event at www.golfstat.com. Texas Tech will share first- and second-round tee times with LSU and Mississippi on Monday. The third and final round will be played Tuesday and groups will be adjusted according to first-day finish. Seven of the 12 teams in the field are ranked among Golfweek's top 30 programs: (2) LSU, (19) Texas Tech, (20) Mississippi, (21) Wake Forest, (24) UAB, (25) Auburn and (28) UAB.
The Red Raiders opened the season at the prestigious Carpet Capital Collegiate, finishing ninth among an 18-team field loaded with top 30 teams. Seniors Garrett Merrell and Santiago Rivas capped the event with 13th-place finishes to lead Texas Tech. The pair also is among the top 50 ranked players in the country. Both are averaging a team-leading 72.3 strokes per round.
Will Griffin, co-medalist at last year's Shoal Creek Intercollegiate, is averaging 75.3 strokes per round after three rounds this season. The junior is the team's career leader with a 73.6 stroke average. Sophomore Chris Ward is averaging 74.7 strokes per round, while redshirt freshman Brian Scherer averaged 74.0 strokes per round in his first collegiate event last weekend.
Griffin and Brad Smith of tournament-host UAB posted 3-under 213s last year to take top honors. Tech junior Matt Smith and sophomore Sergio Franky tied in 10th place with a pair of 220s. Franky's second-round 68 tied for low-round in the event.
Players Mentioned
