SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The Santa Clara University men's golf team has brought in some of the program's most accomplished young recruits in its history and next week's trip to Monterey should give the group an idea of their immediate potential.
Santa Clara is among a national field of 15 teams and 84 individuals set to compete in the 2012 St. Mary's Invitational Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 24-25 held at Bayonet Golf Course and Blackhorse Golf Course just outside Monterey on California's Central Coast.
"This tournament attracts some good teams, including Oregon and Fresno State, while also giving us our first look at conference rivals, St. Mary's, USF and LMU," said eighth-year Broncos Head Coach Rob Miller on Thursday. "It is really going to be a barometer of where these young guys are at right now, and how good we can become this year."
Miller watched true freshman Martin Keskari (Frankfurt, Germany) make 15 pars in his first-ever college round Sept. 10 at Washington State's Itani Quality Homes Collegiate – in what was the team's official 2012-13 tournament opener. Rookie classmate Drew Miller (Thousand Oaks, Calif.) fired a 2-under par 70 in final round play up in Pullman and freshman Carlos Briones (San Lorenzo, Calif.) finished the tournament with an even-par 72. (Briones is pictured right)
Ranked among the nation's top 80 for the majority of Miller's tenure at Santa Clara, a small five-man squad in 2011-12 was a big reason the Broncos' slipped to No. 203 in the final national rankings a year ago. Following an impressive showing at Washington State's event two weeks ago, it will be interesting to see how the revamped Broncos perform next week in Monterey. SCU will match up against six top-100 programs and a pair of the WCC's best at the moment, tournament host and No. 35 St. Mary's and No. 52 San Francisco.
2012 St. Mary's Invitational
Dates (Site): Monday and Tuesday, Sept. 24-25, 2012 (Seaside, Calif.)
Host: St. Mary's College
*Field (15-teams): Oregon (7), St. Mary's (35), San Francisco (52), Kentucky (77), Florida Gulf Coast (82), Sacramento State (84), Kansas State (107), Samford (112), Loyola Marymount (113), UC Irvine (127), Fresno State (143), Cal Poly (152), Western Carolina (183), CSU Northridge (196), Santa Clara (203)
Details: 54-hole medal play. 36 holes played Monday and the final 18 holes played Tuesday. First-round tee times begin via a shotgun start at 8 a.m. Monday on each course. Final round play Tuesday gets underway at 8 a.m. on Bayonet GC.
Course(s): Bayonet and Blackhorse Golf Courses
Bayonet GC
Yardage/Par: 7,104-yards/Par 72
Blackhorse GC
Yardage/Par: 7,024-yards/Par 72
Course Website: Bayonetblackhorse.com
Course Number: (831) 899-7271
Live Scoring: GolfStat.com
*Final 2011-12 Golf Week Rankings
