Men’s Golf Begins Postseason Play at AAC Championship

HOUSTON — The Rice Golf team begins postseason play this Monday-Wednesday, Apr. 21-23, when it heads to Sarasota, Fla., for the American Athletic Conference Championship. The tournament will be played at the par-72, 7,292-yard Ritz-Carlton Golf Club.

TEAM FIELD

Rice, who is ranked 87^th in the latest Scoreboard rankings, is joined by No. 32 South Florida, No. 44 Charlotte, No. 81 Memphis, and No. 94 Florida Atlantic. UAB, East Carolina, North Texas, Temple, UTSA, and Wichita State will also participate.

JUSTIN EMIL QUOTABLE

"It's an exciting time of year for us to get to meet all of our conference teams in Florida. We don't get to do this during the regular season and it's unique to our sport. The guys are excited. It's anyone's championship."

LIVE SCORING

Fans can follow live scoring of the AAC Championship by visiting Scoreboard.com or by clicking here.

HOW TO WATCH

Fans can watch the final round of the AAC Championship on Wednesday on ESPN+ or by clicking here.

THE LINEUP

Lukas Boandl – No. 1 position … ranked 134^th in the latest Scoreboard rankings … leads the team with a 71.43 stroke average, a -0.17 average to par, 19 rounds of par or better, and 125 birdies … has nine rounds in the 60's … third in school history in career stroke average (73.37), average vs. par (1.77), seventh in rounds in the 60's (12), and eighth in rounds of par or better (35) … his season stroke average and average vs. par are the second fewest in school history … his nine rounds in the 60's are the second-most in a season in school history … has three top five, three top 10, and seven top 20 finishes … won his first career tournament at the Argent Financial Classic (9/8-10), finishing -10 to become the fourth golfer in school history to shoot -10 or better in a tournament … tied the second lowest score in the first round when he fired a 65 … tied for first at the Bayou City Collegiate Classic (9/30-10/1) at -12, tying the second-lowest score to par in school history … opened the tournament with his second 65 of the season, becoming the first golfer in school history with two rounds of 65 or better … set the school record with a 36-hole score of 133 … opened the spring season with a fifth-place finish at the Border Olympics (2/17-18) … tied for 11^th at the Trinity Forest Invitational at -8 (10/6-8).

Daniel Zou – No. 2 position … ranked 215^th in the latest Scoreboard rankings … AAC Golfer of the Week (3/5) … is second on the team with a 71.83 stroke average, a 0.23 average vs. par, 17 rounds of par or better, eight rounds in the 60's and 110 birdies … has three top 10 and five top 20 finishes … tied for first-place at the Bayou City Collegiate Classic (9/30-10/1) at -12 … fired a final round 66 … tied for eighth at the Border Olympics (2/17-18) … finished in 10^th-place at the Cabo Collegiate, where he defeated the No. 1 and No. 3 ranked player in the country … tied for 18^th-place at the Steelwood Collegiate Invitational (10/26-27) … tied for 12^th-place at the All-American Intercollegiate (3/17-18).

Raghav Chugh – No. 3 position … third on the team with a 72.93 stroke average … has seven rounds of par or better … is first in school history in career stroke average (72.76), average vs. par (1.10), and rounds in the 60's (17) … is third in top five finishes (5), fourth in top 10 finishes (10) and rounds of par or better (42), and seventh in top 20 finishes (14) … made only fall appearance at the Bayou City Collegiate Classic, where he finished a career-best -8 to tie for eighth-place (9/30-10/1) … tied for 12^th at the All-American Intercollegiate (3/17-18) … tied for 24^th-place at the Louisiana Classics (3/10-11).

Reggie Zhu – No. 4 position … has a 73.47 stroke average and nine rounds of par or better … three top-20 finishes … tied for sixth at the Steelwood Collegiate Invitational, finishing -8 (10/26-27) … opened with a 69 and followed with a season-best 67 … tied for 11^th-place at the Border Olympics (2/17-18) … tied for 20^th-place at the Argent Financial Classic (9/8-10) … fired a 69 in the second round of the Ram Masters Invitational (9/17-18) … AAC Golfer of the Week (2/21/24).

Blake Benson – No. 5 position … has a 75.15 stroke average … six rounds of par or better … two top 20 finishes … tied for 15^th-place at the Ram Masters Invitational (9/17-18) at -1 … fired a career-low 67 in the final round … tied for 16^th-place at the All-American Individual (3/17-18) … tied for 38^th-place at the Bayou City Collegiate Classic (9/30-10/1), where he posted a second round 68.

Jaivir Pande – Substitute … has a 74.96 stroke average … five rounds of par or better … earned his first career top-20 finish at the Ram Masters Invitational (9/17-18), tying for 15^th-place at -1 … closed the tournament with rounds of 68-67 … tied for 33^rd-place at the Steelwood Collegiate Invitational (10/26-27).

PAIRINGS

Play begins 7:30 a.m. Rice will tee off from hole No. 1 with students-athletes from East Carolina and Florida Atlantic. Tuesday and Wednesday's tee times and pairings will depend on results following the previous round.

UP NEXT

With a victory at the AAC Championship, Rice will earn a bid to the NCAA Regionals, May 12-14.

Calendar

Upcoming Events

Recent Results