WCC TOURNAMENT CENTRAL | VIDEO: Miller, Shieh Preview 2017 WCC Championship
SANTA CLARA, Calif. – One week after posting its best score of the year on the Riverside Country Club course, Santa Clara men's golf is back in Provo to navigate the 7,013-yard, par-72 layout in the WCC Championship, which gets underway on Thursday. Teams will play a single 18-hole round over each of the three days of the event.
The Broncos carded a 9-under 855 to finish in a fourth-place tie at the PING Cougar Classic last week, competing with conference heavyweights BYU, Saint Mary's and San Francisco.
"Considering we played here last week and the guys scored well, there are positive feelings," head coach Rob Miller said. "They like the course and feel comfortable. It's good to have that experience."
The Broncos, ranked No. 129 in the most recent Golfstat.com poll, tied No. 57 Saint Mary's last week while finishing five strokes behind No. 113 LMU. No. 47 BYU claimed the team title on its own course. Pepperdine is the highest ranked WCC team at No. 22.
"We have the feeling that anything can happen," Miller said. "We tied a good Saint Mary's team and we competed with LMU. We were close enough to give us a chance at the end."
VIDEO | Miller, Shieh Preview 2017 @WCCSports Men's Golf Championship #WCCChamps #StampedeTogether #SCUBroncos https://t.co/2nZ2zo5Tdc pic.twitter.com/4C5Kfxi2Rl
— Santa Clara Broncos (@SCUBroncos) April 20, 2017
Two-time NCAA Championship qualifier junior Hayden Shieh leads the Broncos, who finished sixth at the conference tournament last season. Shieh and freshman teammate Matt McCarty tied for third at the Cougar Classic by shooting a 6-under 210.
Shieh has scored below par in 12 of his 15 rounds during the spring and leads the team with a 70.81 stroke average. He also has two runner-up finishes in those five events.
McCarty shot a career-low 67 in the first round of the Cougar Classic and had his best finish with a career-best 54-hole score. He's second on the team with a 73.04 stroke average. Check out season statistics here.
Sophomores Charlie Watson, Derek Ackerman and Hassan Said make up the rest of the Broncos five-player team.
"We scheduled tough events with tough competition this season to prepare us for the conference championship," Miller explained. First round action gets underway Thursday morning with live scoring available at Golfstat.com.
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Name: WCC Championship
Dates (Site): Thursday-Saturday, April 20-22 (Provo, Utah)
Hosts: West Coast Conference
Tournament Field (Rank): BYU (47), Gonzaga (178), LMU (113), Pacific (174), Pepperdine (22), Saint Mary's (57), San Diego (183), San Francisco (85), Santa Clara (129).
Details: A single 18-hole round will be played each day for a total of 54 holes.
Course: Riverside Country Club
Yardage/Par: 7,013 yards / Par 72
Course Website: www.riversidecountryclub.org
Live Scoring: www.golfstat.com
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