March 31, 2006
SANTA CLARA, Calif. - Coming off of its eighth top-five finish in as many tournaments over the 2005-06 season, the No. 57 Santa Clara University men's golf team will put that streak on the line this Monday and Tuesday as they participate in the Pacific Coast Intercollegiate Tournament at Rancho San Marcos Golf Course in Santa Barbara. The three-round, 16-team tournament will be 54 holes, 36 on the first day and 18 on day two.
The Broncos have already won four tournaments this season and will look to add a fifth trophy to their haul in Southern California. Michael Nicoletti has been one of the top golfers for SCU this year, collecting five top-five finishes over the eight tournaments, while earlier this week fellow senior John Colyar posted his second top-ten performance with a sixth-place effort at the Western Intercollegiate in Santa Cruz.
Jong Yoon, Eric Lillibridge and Tim Lynch have also been solid contributors for the Broncos this season, as Yoon has posted a top-ten finish this season while Lillibridge and Lynch each have a third-place effort to their credit.
The tournament is being played at Rancho San Marcos for the first time ever. Three of the last four PCIs were held at Lompoc's La Purisima Golf Course and the fourth was at Santa Barbara's Sandpiper Golf Course.
In addition to Santa Clara, the tournament field will include West Coast Conference rivals Saint Mary's and San Diego, as well as five schools from the Big West (host UCSB, UC Irvine, UC Riverside, Cal State Northridge and Pacific). The remainder of the 16-team field includes a Pac-10 school (Washington State), three programs from the Western Athletic Conference (New Mexico State, San Jose State and Idaho), one from the Mountain West Conference (Wyoming), one from the Sun Belt (Denver), one from the Big Sky Conference (Sacramento State), and one future Big West member (UC Davis).
The teams will play a practice round on Sunday, April 2. The 36 holes on Monday, April 3 will have an 8:15 a.m. shotgun start. The final 18 holes on Tuesday, April 4 will have a split tee start from 7:20 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Rancho San Marcos Golf Course is a 6,800-yard, par 71 course.
In 2005, UC Davis won its second straight PCI title with an eight-shot victory over Washington State. The Aggies Louie Bishop won the individual title in the tournament at La Purisima. Past individual champions have included Craig Stadler (1973), Scott Simpson (1977) and Duffy Waldorf (1985).
Tournament Facts
Tournament Name: Pacific Coast Intercollegiate
Course: Rancho San Marcos Golf Course. - Approximately 12 miles east of Santa Barbara.
Yardage: 6,800 yards
Par: 71
Rating/Slope: 73.1/135
Number of Holes in Tournament: 54 - 36 on the first day and 18 on day two.
Number of Teams: 16
Schools in Tournament in Order of Golfweek Ranking (Ranking):
1. Denver (50)
2. Santa Clara (57)
3. UC Irvine (61)
4. New Mexico State (64)
5. San Diego (83)
6. St. Mary¹s (88)
7. Washington State (92)
8. UC Davis (123)
9. Wyoming (128)
10. UCSB (142)
11. San Jose State (157)
12. Idaho (162)
13. Cal State Northridge (169)
14. Pacific (177)
15. UC Riverside (190)
16. Sacramento State (242)
