Owls Begin C-USA Title Defense on Sunday
4/24/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Championship Central | Live Scoring
TEXARKANA, Ark. - Rice University men's golf heads to the 2015 Conference USA Championship this weekend as the defending league champion and the Owls have every intention to repeat as the event takes place on April 26-29 at the Texarkana Country Club.
This year's tournament features 54 holes of stroke play from Sunday through Tuesday, before the top four teams return to action on Wednesday for match play on the par-72, 6,968-yard course.
Head coach Justin Emil said, "The guys are pumped to defend their title in Texarkana this coming week. It's an exciting time for our conference championship as we have made changes in the format that will first take place this year."
"Last year, the C-USA coaches set out to best prepare the conference champs to win a national championship, so we decided to add match play to determine the team champion. The final four teams seeded from 54 holes of stroke play will face off in a 36-hole day of match play, which I predict will be an epic battle for the conference title. That experience alone should prepare the advancing team to compete for a NCAA Championship."
UAB leads C-USA with a No. 33 national ranking, followed by No. 62 North Texas and No. 86 UTSA. Each round tees off at 8 a.m. for the three days of stroke play. The Owls enter the weekend ranked 142nd by Golfweek.
Momentum is on Rice's side, as the team posted its highest finish of the spring semester in its last competition, the Jim West Intercollegiate in early April. The Owls utilized the same lineup for that tournament as they will in the C-USA Championship.
The match play semi-finals begin at 7:30 a.m. on Wednesday, April 29. The championship round is tentatively scheduled to follow at 12:30 p.m.
Last season, the Owls carded a 286 (-2) in the final round to hold off UAB by one stroke for the program's first conference title in 75 years. This season, the Owls send four of the same five players to the tournament, including two players that finished in the top-five at last year's event, which was held in Edmond, Okla.
Prior to last season's championship, Rice's highest finish since joining Conference USA came in 2010, when the Owls tied for second place.
C-USA's champion will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Regional play takes place on campus sites from May 14-16 before the championship on May 29-June 3 at Concession Golf Club in Bradenton, Fla.
The May 4 NCAA Selection Show as well as the national championship will air on Golf Channel.
The 14 Conference USA teams will begin tournament action with a practice round on Saturday before Sunday's competition officially starts.
Sunday's forecast calls for light winds and a high of 88 degrees with little chance of precipitation. The temperatures cool and the chance for rain increases throughout the tournament.
Rice's Lineup
 | Tommy Economou Sr., Hillsborough, Calif. Fourth C-USA Tournament (2014 - 3rd Place) Stroke Average: 74.24 Low Round: 68 |
Ranks second on the team in stroke average ... posted a pair of top-20 finishes ... ranked second on the squad and 40th overall at the David Toms Intercollegiate with a 234 (+18) ... tied for the team lead at the Miramont Invitational with a pair of 73s for a 146 (+2) ... tied for second on the team in the fall finale with a 218 (+2) at the Quail Valley Intercollegiate ... led the squad in scoring in three spring tournaments, beginning with a 29th-place finish at the UTSA Oak Hills Invitational with a 73-72-75--220 (+7) ... broke 70 at the Bayou City Collegiate Championship with a third-round 69 ... led Rice at the Border Olympics in 16th place with a 71-72-72--215 (-1) ... followed up with another team-leading performance at the UTSA Lone Star Invitational, where he took 25th place with a 74-68-73--215 (-1) ... named to C-USA Commissioner's Honor Roll for a third-straight year and earned the C-USA Academic Medal. |
 | James Lee Jr., Albuquerque, N.M. Third C-USA Tournament (2014 - 32nd Place) Stroke Average: 74.55 Low Round: 69 |
Opened the 2014-15 campaign in 20th place at the Sam Hall Intercollegiate with a 214 (+1) ... tied for second on the team at the David Toms Intercollegiate with a 234 (+18), 40th overall ... took home 37th place at the Miramont Invitational with a 150 (+6) ... opened spring competition at the Bayou City Collegiate Championship and finished second on the team with a 222 (+6) ... ranked second on the squad at the UTSA Lone Star Invitational with a 72-72-78--222 (+6) ... paced the team in the Jim West Intercollegiate with a 13th-place finish ... notched a 69-76-73--218 (+2) at the event for his best three-round score of the season ... his opening round 69 also tied his career-low score. |
 | Alex Levy So., Austin, Texas Second C-USA Tournament (2014 - 32nd Place) Stroke Average: 75.53 Low Round: 72 |
Missed the fall while rehabbing from an off-season surgery ... opened the season at the Bayou City Collegiate Championship with a 75-79-73--227 (+11) ... followed that performance by ranking second on the team at the Querencia Cabo Intercollegiate with a 75-73-76--224 (+11) ... tallied his best round of the semester at the Border Olympics with a 72-76-76--224 (+8). |
 | Mitchell Meissner Fr., San Antonio, Texas First C-USA Tournament Stroke Average: 75.04 Low Round: 70 |
Made his collegiate debut at the Ram Masters Invitational, taking 69th place with a 235 (+25) ... ranked third on the squad at the Miramont Invitational with a 76-71--147 (+3) ... claimed 52nd place at the David Toms Intercollegiate with a 239 (+23) ... began spring play with a 73-76-73--222 (+9) at the UTSA Oak Hills Invitational, where he took 34th place and ranked second on the team ... followed up at the Bayou City Collegiate Championship with a 76-74-70--220 (+4), good for the team lead and 35th place overall ... led the Owls in a second-straight tournament at the Querencia Cabo Intercollegiate in 37th place with a 75-74-70--219 (+6) ... racked up a pair of 71-stroke rounds in the UTSA Lone Star Invitational finale and Jim West Intercollegiate opener. |
 | Kevin Reilly So., Oviedo, Fla. Second C-USA Tournament (2014 - 4th Place) Stroke Average: 74.09 Low Round: 69 |
Led the Owls in three of five fall events ... only Owl to play in every tournament ... opened the semester with an eighth-place finish at the Sam Hall Intercollegiate at 69-70-71--210 (-3) ... followed up in ninth place at the Ram Masters Invitational with a 215 (+5) ... notched a 147 (+3) at the Miramont Invitational for 23rd place ... led the Owls at the Quail Valley Intercollegiate with a 69-73-74--216 (E), tied for 23rd place ... in the spring, notched a 77-76-71--224 (+8) at the Bayou City Collegiate Championship in February ... finished second on the team at the Border Olympics with a 74-74-74--222 (+6) ... placed 30th overall and second on the team with a 74-72-75--221 (+5) at the Jim West Intercollegiate. |
- by Charles Cochrum
Players Mentioned
