THIS WEEK: For the seventh-consecutive season, the Washington State University men's golf team will host a tournament, with this year's being the Itani Quality Homes Collegiate, Sept. 28-29, at Palouse Ridge Golf Club.
THE COURSE: WSU's Palouse Ridge Golf Club is located on campus and was the host for the 2015 Men's Pac-12 Golf Championships…the 7,308-yard track will play at par 71...teams will play 36 holes Monday with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m…the tournament concludes Tuesday with 18 holes beginning at 8:30 a.m…the course, which opened in Aug. 2008, was named to Golfweek's Top College Courses list in 2014 and 2015.
THE TOURNAMENT: This year marks the tournament's seventh occurrence in Pullman, but the fourth year that Itani Quality Homes has sponsored…Washington State has won the title every year except for 2011 and 2014…in 2009, Kevin Tucker tied for individual honors…Hank Frame placed in the top 25 all four years of his career (2009-12) and captured the tournament title as a senior in 2012…in 2013, senior Blake Snyder captured the individual title…in 2014, senior Sang Lee earned his first career individual title…Cougars set a school record for 54-holes in 2010 with an 827 (-37)…WSU's third-round score of 278 (-10) in 2012 is the best third round mark in tournament history.
THE FIELD: Joining WSU in the 9-team field will be British Columbia, Cal State Fullerton, Grand Canyon, Sacramento State, Santa Clara, Seattle, Utah Valley, and Weber State.
REPRESENTING WASHINGTON STATE: Competing for the Cougars will be freshmen Aaron Whalen and AJ Armstrong, sophomores Derek Bayley and Zach Anderson, and junior Nick Mandell. The rest of the team will compete as individuals.
LAST TIME AT THE ITANI QUALITY HOMES COLLEGIATE: Lee lead the team by earning his first career individual title, shooting 6-under par (204) through three rounds at Palouse Ridge Golf Club…current sophomore Bayley tied for 10th (-1, 69) while senior Evan Omelia tied for 23rd (+2, 212)…the Cougars finished fourth (+2, 842), ahead of Pac-12 rivals Washington, Arizona State, Oregon State, and Utah…Oregon took first place at 6-under (834) after winning the playoff against USC.
LAST TIME ON THE GREEN: Three WSU golfers represented the Cougars in the top-25 at the Husky Invitational at Cle Elum, Wash., Sept. 21-22, at Tumble Hills Golf Course…freshmen Whalen (+5, 218) and Armstrong (+8, 221) tied for 10th and 16th, respectively…Bayley tied for 24th (+10, 223)…the Cougars finished tied for seventh (+41, 893) behind co-champions Oregon and Washington (+13, 865).
COACHING STAFF: The men's golf team is led by fifth-year head coach Garrett Clegg…assisting Clegg is WSU alumnus Dustin White, a third-year assistant coach who golfed for the Cougars from 1999-2003…new to the coaching staff this year is volunteer assistant coach David Nuhn, who golfed for Idaho from 2008-2010.
RESULTS: Live results will be posted on birdiefire.com. Full recaps from each day of competition will be posted on wsucougars.com at the end of each round.