WATCH | EYEBRONCO: Men's Golfers Carlos Briones, Gio Gandionco on 2015 WCC Championships

WATCH | EYEBRONCO: Men's Golf Head Coach Rob Miller on 2015 WCC Championships

SANTA CLARA, Calif. – The Santa Clara men's golf team looks to accomplish something only one group of players has done since 1970 and that's win the West Coast Conference Championship. The 2014-15 squad gets its chance starting Monday when the three-day tournament gets under way at the 6,985-yard, par-72 Saticoy Country Club in Somis, Calif.

The annual 54-hole event that determines the WCC's team and individual automatic qualifiers for the NCAA regional championships will be contested Monday through Wednesday and this year's tournament figures to be tight with all nine schools closely ranked in the most recent Golfweek.com poll.

BYU was a slight favorite in the preseason coaches poll and enters as the 95th ranked team. San Diego, the top ranked WCC team at No. 55, was a close second among the league's coaches.

"Be positive going in, not just about their ability but about their chances on this course," head coach Rob Miller said about his squad. "At this point it's a matter of picking a course strategy that everybody's comfortable with so they can be committed to their shots and feel like they can just play golf."

The Broncos, ranked 100th, have been playing their finest golf recently competing against many of the top programs in the country. An impressive showing at Stanford's prestigious The Goodwin tournament in March saw the team post its two lowest rounds of the year with a first round 281 and a second round 280. The Broncos placed 12th in the 24-team even that included eight Golfweek.com top 40 teams.

Hayden Shieh, a candidate for the WCC Freshman of the Year honor, leads the team with a 71.82 average playing in all 33 rounds. He captured his first individual title in the final fall event, winning the Visit Stockton Pacific Invitational, and has four top 10 finishes. "Hayden has been awesome as a freshman," Miller said. "He started off strong and just got better as the year's gone on. He looks to be a true No. 1 player for us."

With five sub-par scores in his last nine rounds, junior Carlos Briones is the hottest golfer on the team, ranking second with a 72.83 average and 10 rounds below par. "It's been nice to see Carlos healthy this year for the first time and he's really starting to play a lot better and more confidently," Miller noted.

Last year's freshman of the year Tyler Kertson and junior Gio Gandionco make up the top four of the Broncos' lineup. "Tyler had a couple of really good finishes and good rounds here the last couple of events and he's starting to show the form he had as WCC Freshman of the Year last year," Miller said.

The No. 5 spot in the lineup is a key for the Broncos to improve on their runner-up finish to BYU at last year's championship. Junior Drew Miller takes the role after ending the regular season with two of his finest performances of the year.

"We're finally starting to see Drew play a little better and starting to contribute in the five spot," Coach Miller said. "If you can get three good scores from your five player it's really important and helps the other four guys be confident that there's another player they can count on."

All five players must be counted on for Santa Clara to win its first championship since 1998.

Daily updates will be available on WCCSports.com with a recap and results posted on Santa Clara's website at the conclusion of each round. Live scoring will be available at www.golfstatresults.com.

TOURNAMENT INFORMATION

Name: WCC Championship

Dates (Site): Monday-Wednesday, April 13-15 (Ventura, Calif.)

Host: West Coast Conference

Field (Rank): BYU (95), Gonzaga (112), LMU (142), Pacific (80), Pepperdine (79), Saint Mary's (71), San Diego (55), San Fancisco (145), Santa Clara (100).

Details: A single 18-hole round will be played each day for a total of 54 holes. Monday's first round will begin with threesomes teeing off from the 10th hole starting at 7:50 a.m.

Course: Saticoy Country Club

Yardage-Par: 6,985 Yards-Par 72

Course Website: www.saticoycountryclub.com

Course Number: (805) 485-4956

Live Scoring: www.golfstatresults.com