Golf Set to Co-Host Spring Opening All-American Intercollegiate

HOUSTON — Rice golf opens the 2020 spring season this Sunday-Tuesday, February 16-18, when it co-hosts the All-American Intercollegiate with Houston. The tournament will be played at the par-72, 7,096-yard Golf Club of Houston.

JUSTIN EMIL QUOTABLE

"We've had some really good, focused practice and consistent time in the weight room. Their games should be hitting on all cylinders. We've really focused on the right things. Our practices have been excellent. They've been working really hard. We're prepared to go and play in the All-American. It's a golf course that we know pretty well. It's a pretty big golf course, but there's some difficult tee shots. We just need to know how to play those tee shots and be really good at putting the ball in play. Those are the things we been focusing on all year."

JUSTIN EMIL ON THE SPRING SCHEDULE

"We tried to balance our schedule with some really good strength in order to position ourselves well to get our ranking high enough so that we can be an at-large team going into the postseason. Our goal every year is to win conference and play golf all the way through May. So that's what we're really eyeing right now. We have the schedule to do it if we play well. But we can't focus on it as a whole. We have to break it down to each individual shot that we hit and not get too wrapped up in where we're playing or what we have coming up."

JUSTIN EMIL ON THE TEAM

"We're very deep. We have a lot of guys who are really scratching and clawing to get in the lineup. As coaches, the three-four-five spots are a little uncertain for us. That's kind of a good place to be because there is a lot of competition at that part of our roster. Jake (Benson) is definitely leading the show there. He is very consistent in qualifying. But, I think they are all shooting for him and trying to get to where he is. It's sort of a sweet spot for us. Everybody really wants to play and help the team. We've got an awesome group of guys. I couldn't be more proud of the group of guys that we have."

TEAM FIELD

No. 8 Wake Forest, No. 30 South Carolina and No. 32 Houston lead the All-American Intercollegiate field. Also joining Rice are Lamar, Little Rock, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana-Monroe, Louisiana Tech, Middle Tennessee, Sam Houston State, UT-Arlington, UTSA and Texas State.

LIVE SCORING

Fan can follow live scoring from the All-American Intercollegiate by visiting Golfstat.com or by clicking here.

THE LINEUP

Jake Benson – No. 1 position … leads the team with 71.58 strokes per round … has two top five and three top ten finishes to start the year … has recorded eight rounds under par … tied for second-place at the Health Plan Mountaineer Invitational … began the year tying for fourth-place at the Lone Star Invitational … became the first Owl to open the season with a top-five finish since Michael Buttacavoli finished runner-up at the 2009 UTA/Waterchase Invitational … tied for seventh-place at the Trinity Forest Invitational, where he fired a season-low 68 in the first round … tied his career-low 36-hole (138) and 54-hole (208) scores at the Trinity Forest … is the first Owl to finish in the top 10 in the first three tournaments and the top five of two of the first three since Jeff Makohon in 1991-92 … participated in the 2019 NCAA Austin Regional.

Campbell Gibson – No. 2 position … played in two tournament in the fall, averaging 78.33 strokes per round … tied for 61^st-place at the Steelwood Collegiate Invitational … finished in 64^th-place at the season-opening Lone Star Invitational … saw action in four tournaments last year, compiling a 75.64 stroke average … had one round of par or better … fired a career-low 70 in the first round of the Bayou City Collegiate Classic … had a season-best tie for 36^th-place at the All-American Intercollegiate.

Austin Escamilla – No. 3 position … is making his second start of the year … tied for 51^st-place at the Health Plan Mountaineer Invitational … averaged 76.00 strokes per round last year … had six rounds of par or better … earned his first career top-ten finish at the Conference USA Championship, tying for 10^th-place.

Thomas Bockholt III – No. 4 position … averaging 75.56 strokes per round … had a season-best finish at the Steelwood Collegiate Invitational, tying for 29^th-place…recorded first round of par or better at the Steelwood, firing a season-low 71 in the second round … made his first collegiate start at the Lone Star Invitational, finishing in 60^th-place … tied for 72^nd-place at the Trinity Forest Invitational, where he twice carded season-best rounds of 73 … native of Austin, Texas and a product of Westlake High School … averaged 75.89 strokes over nine rounds in the summer.

Rishi Kejriwal – No. 5 position … is fourth on the team with 74.92 strokes per round … has three rounds of par or better this year … tied for 26^th at the season-opening Lone Star Invitational … twice fired a season-best 70 at the Trinity Forest Invitational, where he also tied his career-low 36-hole score (143).

Nicholas Duggan – Individual … the only senior on the team … Conference USA Golfer of the Week (10/30) … second on the team with 73.83 strokes per round … has four rounds of par or better … tied for 19^th-place at the Steelwood Collegiate Invitational … tied for 22^nd-place at the season-opening Lone Star Invitational … twice carded a season-best 71 at the Trinity Forest Invitational.

Forrest Park – Individual … making his collegiate debut … native of Irving, Texas and a product of Jesuit Preparatory School … was twice named First Team All-District and All-Region

PAIRINGS

For Sunday's first round, the Owls will tee off from hole No. 1 beginning at 8:45 a.m. CT. Rice will compete in groups with student-athletes from Middle Tennessee and South Carolina. Monday and Tuesday tee times and pairings will depend on results following the previous round.

UP NEXT

Following the All-American Intercollegiate, the Owls will travel to Laredo for the Border Olympics on Feb. 24-25.

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