SANTA CLARA, Calif. - The Santa Clara University men's golf team will open its 2013 spring season at the Arizona Intercollegiate, Jan. 28-29, at The Golf Club at Vistoso in Tucson. The event is the first major college golf tournament of the spring season.

The Broncos and eighth-year head coach Rob Miller will bring to Tucson some of the nation's best young players. Santa Clara's 2012-13 freshman class came in ranked No. 1 in GolfStat's freshman impact rankings following the fall campaign.

"We just finished qualifying and we will again feature three freshmen, Martin Keskari, Carlos Briones and Gio Gandionco along with our two juniors, Scott Lowe and Bobby Monaco," Miller told his supporters on Thursday. "All the guys are playing solid golf and are looking forward to the challenge of competing against some of the best collegiate players in the country. This is a great opportunity of our young team to continue to grow."

Three of the teams in the field of 15 are ranked in the current Nike/Golf World Coaches Poll and seven teams are ranked in the top 80 places of the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index.

"One big thing about this weekend will be matching up with Cal, the number one team in the nation right now," said Lowe, one of Santa Clara's most accomplished players. "They will be in the field this week, so it will be really fun to test our game against those guys and see where we stack up, as well as with a number of other great teams there."

"This kicks off a busy spring season for us, playing seven events in the next two and a half months. We are really excited. We got our freshman into competition this fall and now we are looking for them to step up and have a great spring," Lowe added.

The Broncos' 2013 spring schedule takes the team to the Southwest for its first three events, first in Tucson, then at San Diego's Invitational (Feb. 11-12) at The Farms Golf Club and to The Classic Club in Palm Desert, Calif. to play in the University of Wyoming's Desert Intercollegiate (Feb. 22-24).

2013 Arizona Intercollegiate
Dates: Monday, Jan. 28, 2013 and Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013
Site: The Golf Club at Vistoso (Tucson, Ariz.)
Host: University of Arizona
Field (15 teams): California (1), New Mexico (4), Liberty (18), TCU (46), Kennesaw State (53), Arizona State (72), Arizona (79), Central Arkansas (85), Santa Clara (102), Cal State Fullerton (104), UTEP (108), Utah (121), Pepperdine (132), New Mexico State (157), UC-Riverside (219)
Details: Sunday, Jan. 27: Practice round, tee times begin at 10:30 a.m. MST. Thirty-six holes will be played on Monday, Jan. 28 with continuous play scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. MST. The final 18 holes will start at 8 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 29.
Course: The Golf Club at Vistoso (Par 71, 6,932-yard layout)
955 West Vistoso Highlands Drive
Oro Valley, AZ. 85755
Golf Shop: 520.797.9900
VistosoGolf.com
Live Scoring: GolfStat.com

Played annually since 1981, the Arizona Intercollegiate has been contested on some of the finest courses in Tucson, including Randolph Park North, Tucson National, Tucson Country Club, the TPC at Starr Pass, Oro Valley Country Club and Arizona National, before moving to The Golf Club at Vistoso this year. This event has led off college golf's spring season each year since 1986.