Tough Tournament Awaits Aggies At USC

Aggies return to course with USC Collegiate Invitational and three top-10 teams

Tim Honeycutt has posted a 74.6 scoring average in 2009-10. <br> (Photo by Todd Hammond)
 
Tim Honeycutt has posted a 74.6 scoring average in 2009-10.
(Photo by Todd Hammond)
  

Feb. 28, 2010

Live scoring

WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif. - Another tough field awaits the UC Davis men's golf team this week when the Aggies face 11 teams ranked in the top 50 - including three among the top 10 - at the USC Collegiate Invitational, being played at the par-71, 6,869-yard North Ranch Country Club.

The 32-year-old tournament, hosted by USC, will open with 36 holes on Monday morning at 7:30 a.m. and will conclude with 18 holes on Tuesday, also starting at 7:30.

The tournament has enjoyed a storied past since first being played in 1978. Among its medalists are Corey Pavin (UCLA; 1978, 1981), Billy Mayfair (Arizona State, 1987), Tiger Woods (Stanford; 1996), Paul Casey (Arizona State, 1998) and Anthony Kim (Oklahoma, 2006).

For 86th-ranked UC Davis, the tournament provides another opportunity to face some of the nation's best collegiate teams. This week's event will be headlined by three highly ranked teams, all of them from the Pac-10 Conference - No. 2 Stanford, No. 6 Oregon and No. 8 UCLA.

Four more Pac-10 teams - No. 12 Arizona State, No. 16 USC, No. 24 California and No. 28 Oregon State - are the next highest-ranked teams while San Diego State (29), the University of San Diego (31), Fresno State (47) and Pepperdine (48) round out teams ranked among the top 50. Charlotte, ranked 51st, and No. 56 BYU complete the competitive tournament field.

UC Davis will be looking to rebound after finishing in a tie for 13th at the Battle of the Beach, hosted by UCLA and Long Beach State two weeks ago. After posting four top-10 finishes during the fall season, the Aggies are looking their first of the spring.

Junior Austin Graham continues to lead UC Davis, posting a team-best 71.6 average so far while placing in the top 10 in four of his seven events. He will be joined in the Aggies' probable lineup by Tyler Raber, Tim Honeycutt, Andrew Haggen and Brent Booth.

 

 

Raber is second on the team with a 73.1 average while Honeycutt is third at 74.6.