Owls Tee Off in Baton Rouge Monday
10/15/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Oct. 15, 2010
Rice University's fall golf campaign comes to an unusually early end next week when the Owls conclude the season at the David Toms Intercollegiate hosted by LSU at the Country Club of Louisiana in Baton Rouge (par 72, 6849 yards).
Next week's tournament is slated for 36 holes on Monday with an 8 a.m. shotgun start. Tuesday's final 18 holes will have teams teeing off from holes 1 and 10. The David Toms Intercollegiate marks the fifth tournament in six weeks for the Owls.
"Obviously, we want to play in the best events we can but sometimes you don't get to choose when they are," said Rice head coach Drew Scott. "It's the earliest we have finished in my six seasons at Rice but we have handled it well. Academically we have handled it well and we have had perfect weather. The later you go into the fall, the more chances you have for inclement weather, whether it's cold or rain."
Rice will look to continue to improve this fall against another stout field. Host LSU is ranked No. 3 in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Performance ratings and Arkansas is No. 10. Seven other teams in the field are in the Top 100.
"I think the guys are hungry to have a good event to finish the fall season," Scott said. "Michael Whitehead and fellow senior Robert Burrow played this event last year so we have some knowledge of the course. We finished fifth last year which was a solid finish."
Whitehead is coming off two straight runner-up finishes. Earlier this week he was named the Conference USA Golfer of the Week after finishing second at the Rod Myers Invitational hosted by Duke. He had a three-round score of 212 (-4) and finished ahead of six of the Top 100 collegiate players in the country.
"Obviously Michael is playing great," Scott said. "I know he is hoping to get back into the hunt this week and maybe even win."
Along with Whitehead and Burrow, the Owls' lineup in Baton Rouge will consist of junior Erik Mayer, sophomore Brock Wilson and freshman Jeff Wibawa.
David Toms Intercollegiate Web Site
Live Results Link
Players Mentioned
