SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Playing the first of four fall tournaments, Santa Clara men's golf will get an early taste of how West Coast Conference competition stacks up when the team opens its season at the USF Olympic Invitational on Monday. Five WCC squads will tee it up at the 15-team tournament, competed on the 6,934-yard, par-71 Olympic Club Lake Course in San Francisco, Calif.
Teams will play 36 holes on Monday with a final round of 18 played on Tuesday. Along with Santa Clara, Saint Mary's, San Diego, LMU, BYU and host USF will represent the WCC. Hawaii, Notre Dame, UC Davis, Fresno State, TCU, Cal Poly, Dominican, and Alabama-Birmingham round out the field.
"It's hard to say which school has the team to beat this early in the season," head coach Rob Miller said. TCU and UAB participated in the NCAA Championships last season. Four other teams were ranked in the top 100 by Golfstat.com.
The Broncos will be led by junior Hayden Shieh, who competed as an individual at the NCAA Regional last year. He led the team to the Arizona NIT title last season with a third-place finish while setting a course record with a first round 62. He captured his second career individual title by winning the Cabo Del Sol Intercollegiate and had five top-5 finishes while playing in all 10 events.
According to Miller there are some questions at the top of the lineup now that Tyler Kertson is no longer on the team. "We need someone to step up in the No. 2 spot," Miller said.
Evan McLeod and Charlie Watson are likely candidates. "Evan looks good. He's healthy and his game has improved," according to Miller. "Charlie worked hard over the summer on his footwork and balance and I'm excited about the improvements he's made."
The fall season will be a testing ground for the younger players, including freshmen Devrath Das, Matt McCarty and Ryan Johnson. "Dev and Matt were strong and the incoming class will get in the lineup this fall," Miller added.
Shieh, McLeod, Michiel Eyre III, Watson and Das will make up the Broncos lineup at the Olympic Invitational.
"We have more depth and can go seven or eight players deep," Miller said. "But we need more consistency at the top of the lineup. We will develop players in the fall to build into solid contributors."
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Name: USF Olympic Invitational
Dates (Site): Monday-Tuesday, Sep. 12-13 (San Francisco, Calif.)
Host: USF
Tournament Field (15 teams): Alabama-Birmingham, BYU, Cal Poly, Dominican, Fresno State, Hawaii, LMU, Notre Dame, Saint Mary's, San Diego, Santa Clara, TCU, UC Davis, USF (2).
Details: 54-hole stroke play, 36 holes on Monday and 18 holes on Tuesday with the low four of five scores counted each round for the team total. Start time is 8:15 a.m. (PT) both days.
Course: The Olympic Club Lake Course
Yardage/Par: 6,934 yards-Par 71
Course Website: www.olyclub.com
Live Scoring: Golfstat.com
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