.png&type=webp)
Rice University Athletics
Men's Golf: Purina Classic Next for Owls
10/8/2000 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
The 54-hole, two-day event will be played at the Missouri Bluffs Golf Club, located right outside of St. Louis. The course covers 7,047 yards and is a par 71. The first 36-holes will be played on Monday starting at a.m., while the final 18 are slated for Tuesday at 8 a.m.
The meet, one of the premier fall collegiate tournaments in the country, features a 15-team field that includes defending champion and No. 12 ranked Kansas, No. 36 Tulsa, No. 37 Colorado, No. 44 Virginia Tech, No. 51 Louisiana-Lafayette, No. 60 Baylor, No. 87 and host Missouri, No. 97 Texas A&M, Arkansas State, Illinois, Illinois State, Iowa State, Kansas State, Michigan State and the Owls.
Head coach Clay Homan would still like to see the Owls' short game improve against this competitive field.
"We're into the swing of playing golf and playing a lot of rounds, which is good," Homan said. "We have to get better on the greens. Our ball striking has been a lot better just because we've played a lot of rounds. We had a good session on Wednesday that focused just on putting, so hopefully that will pay off.
"This is the strongest field we've played against all year. We have to face them sooner or later. You don't want to get a false sense of accomplishment. We don't want to feel like we have achieved something until we have beaten a field that is this strong."
The Owls will send seniors Chris Connolly and Frederik Dejaeghere, sophomore Bradley Lane and freshmen Ryan Morgan and Scott Philips to represent Rice.
Dejaeghere led the Owls with a seventh-place finish last week, while Connolly currently leads the squad with a 76.33 stroke average.
