SANTA CLARA, Calif. – Coming off their runner-up finish in the first event of the fall season, Santa Clara men's golf is back in action a little closer to home starting Monday at the 15-team Alister MacKenzie Invitational. The two-day, 54-hole event will be contested on the 6,734-yard, par-71 Meadow Club in Fairfax, Calif.
The annual tournament typically attracts a strong field and this year's edition is no different. Four teams are among the top-35 in the early Golfweek.com rankings and an additional four teams, including the Broncos, are ranked in the top-100. Pepperdine tops the field at No. 11 while the Broncos are No. 78 after finishing a shot off the lead at last week's Firestone Invitational.
"This event always has some good teams," head coach Rob Miller said. "This will be a good early test for the guys."
The Broncos' contingent will consist of the same five players that finished one-shot off the lead last week. Three of the players earned a top-10 with freshman Alejandro Gutierrez leading the way with a T6 in his first collegiate event.
Senior Matt McCarty, who shot a second-round 61 at Meadow Club last year, tied for 10th along with junior Berk Harvey in Santa Clara's season-opening event. Junior Zack Kaneshiro was the fourth Bronco to place among the top-20 with a share of 16th-place.
Sophomore Konrad Brauckmeyer rounds out the five-player team.
"In all it was a good opening tournament," Miller said about last week's Firestone Invitational. "But all the guys felt they could have played better. We made the most birdies in the field, which was also typical last year, but we need to try to minimize the scores higher than bogey to take advantage of that birdie power."
First-round action at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational gets underway at 8:15 a.m. PT. Live scoring is available by clicking here.
TOURNAMENT INFORMATION
Name: Alister MacKenzie Invitational
Dates (Site): Monday-Tuesday, October 7-8 (Fairfield, CA)
Host: Cal-Berkeley
Tournament Field (15): Boise State, California, Chattanooga, Fresno State, Hawai'i, Long Beach State, Loyola Marymount, Nevada, Pepperdine, San Diego, San Diego State, San Jose State, Santa Clara, St. Mary's, UC Santa Barbara
Details: The 54-hole event will be contested over two days in a five-count-four team scoring format. The field will play 36 holes on Monday with a shotgun start format at 8:15 a.m. PT. A single 18-hole final round on Tuesday will start at 8 a.m. PT with tee times from holes No. 1 and No. 10.
Course: Meadow Club
Yardage/Par: 6,734 yards / Par 71
Live Scoring: Golfstat.com
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