Men's Golf Team Tees Off in Tampa Saturday
October 02, 2009 | Men's Golf
Oct. 2, 2009
LUBBOCK, Texas -- The 17th-ranked Texas Tech men's golf team begins its second tournament of the season at the Gary Koch Intercollegiate on Saturday and is one of six teams ranked among the top 20 participating in the event. The Old Memorial Golf Club (7,398, par-72) in Tampa, Fla., is the host site for the two-day event.
The 15 teams in the field will play 36 holes Saturday and 18 Sunday. Tee times begin at 6:40 a.m. CT Saturday and 7 a.m. Sunday. The teams spent Friday playing through the practice round.
Leading the charge for the Red Raiders is junior Nils Floren, who is coming off of his first collegiate win at the Carpet Capital Collegiate in Tech's only outing of the season in September. Floren, ranked No. 18 nationally, fired back-to-back rounds of 69 and 68 in the final two rounds to move from seventh to a tie for medalist honors.
Senior Chris Ward finished in an 11th-place tie at the Carpet Capital with a 68 and 71 on the final two days. Ward, who, along with teammate Matt Smith, advanced to the round of 32 at the U.S. Amateur in August, was 1-under par for the event. Smith, playing in his first tournament in year, finished tied in 33rd place behind Floren and Ward.
Rounding out the lineup this weekend for Tech are sophomore Brian Scherer and redshirt freshman Finley Ewing, who won the Lubbock Christian University tournament last month playing unattached. Scherer tied in 50th place at the Carpet Capital, while Ewing is making his first appearance in the lineup as a Red Raider.
Joining the No. 17 Red Raiders in the event are tournament co-hosts Auburn (10) and Kentucky. Florida (8), Florida State (9), North Carolina (13), North Florida (15) and Virginia (25) are the top 25 teams in the event, while Augusta State, East Tennessee State, Georgia Southern, UAB, LSU, Mississippi and South Florida comprise the field.
There is no live scoring for the event. Updates will be posted following each day's play at www.texastech.com.
