March 3, 2006

Santa Clara, Calif. - The No. 40 Santa Clara men's golf team looks to claim its fifth tournament championship early next week at the Braveheart Classic in Beaumont. Play is scheduled to begin Monday morning at the 72-par Oak Valley Country Club.

In addition to the Broncos, the field will include host UC Riverside as well as UC Santa Barbara, Cal Poly, Cal State Northridge, Pacific, Sacramento State, Weber State, Idaho State, Portland, Loyola Marymount, San Diego, Gonzaga, Boise State, Utah State, Utah, Southern Utah, Jacksonville, Pennsylvania and UCLA. The Broncos competed in the event last year and finished tied for 14th in the field.

The Broncos enter the event riding a two-tournament winning streak after claiming championships at the Rice Intercollegiate in early February and the Anteater Invitational earlier this week. The Broncos were led in the Anteater Invitational by senior Michael Nicoletti, who claimed his fifth top-10 finish of the year in the event. Sophomore Tim Lynch also came through for the Broncos with the best finish of his career, tying for third in the field with Nicoletti.

Santa Clara boasts a solid team of competitors, with each player in the Bronco quintet having notched at least one top-10 finish this season. Nicoletti leads the Broncos with a 72.41 round average and four under-par rounds. The Dos Palos native is followed closely by fellow senior Eric Lillibridge, who carries a 73.59 round average and two top-ten finishes.

The event, hosted by UC Riverside, is scheduled to begin with a shotgun start at 8 a.m. on Monday. The first two rounds will be completed on that day, with the final 18 holes scheduled for Tuesday morning. The next event for the Broncos will be the Western Intercollegiate, which will take place in Santa Cruz March 27-28.