Men’s Golf Heads to Florida for Valspar Collegiate Invitational

HOUSTON — The Rice Men's Golf team gets right back to the links when it participates in one of the premier tournaments in the country, the Valspar Collegiate Invitational, Mar. 23-24. At Floridian National Golf Club in Palm City, Fla.

TEAM FIELD

Rice is ranked No. 56 in the latest Scoreboard rankings. Joining the Owls in the 16-team field are No. 1 Auburn, No. 6 Texas, No. 7 Arkansas, No. 8 Arizona State, No. 10 Texas Tech, No. 13 Pepperdine, No. 14 Oklahoma, No. 17 North Carolina, No. 23 Duke, No. 24 USC, No. 29 Wake Forest, No. 30 Florida State, No. 32 Texas A&M, and No. 69 Houston. Augusta is also participating.

JUSTIN EMIL QUOTABLE

"This is our first trip to the Valspar Collegiate Invitational. It's a great field of teams and another big opportunity for our team this spring. We're excited to get down there and build a game plan for this course."

LIVE SCORING

Fans can follow live scoring of the Valspar Collegiate Invitational by visiting Scoreboard.com or by clicking here.

LINEUP

Lukas Boandl – No. 1 position … leads the team with a 70.61 stroke average … team-high 18 rounds of par or better and nine rounds in the 60's … second on the team with 86 birdies … two top five, two top ten, and six top 20 finishes … is third in school history in career stroke average (72.76) and average vs. par (1.15) … career leader in rounds of par or better (56) and rounds in the 60's (23), third in top five finishes (5), fourth in top 20 finishes (18), and 10^th in top 10 finishes (10) … tied for first at the Trinity Forest Invitational at -12 before falling on the second hole of a playoff … opened with consecutive 66's before closing with a 69 … set the school record for 36-hile score (132), and his 54-hole score of 201 is the second lowest in school history … runner-up finish at the Bayou City Collegiate Classic (9/29-30), finishing -8 and helping the Owls to the team title … tied for 12^th-place at the Argent Financial Classic (9/7-9) … tied for 11^th at the Cabo Collegiate … tied for 13^th at the Steelwood Collegiate Invitational (10/25) … 2025 AAC All-Conference ... 2025 NCAA Bremerton Regional participant.

Daniel Zou – No. 2 position … second on the team with a 71.96 stroke average … third with 13 rounds of par or better and 75 birdies … five rounds in the 60's … is first in school history in career stroke average (71.86) and average vs. par (0.22), fifth in rounds in the 60's (14), and ninth in rounds of par or better (34) … tied for seventh at the Bayou City Collegiate Classic (9/29-30) finishing at -5 … tied for 11^th at the All-American Intercollegiate (3/16-17) … tied for 15^th-place at the Argent Financial Classic … 2025 AAC All-Conference ... 2025 AAC Freshman of the Year ... AAC Golfer of the Week (3/5) … 2025 NCAA Bremerton Regional participant.

Henry Daly – No. 3 position … transfer from Virginia … in his second stint at Rice, where he began his collegiate career as a freshman in 2022 … third on the team with a 72.23 stroke average … second with 15 rounds of par or better … leads the team with 99 birdies … five rounds in the 60's … had a career-best tied for fourth-place finish at the Bayou City Collegiate Classic (9/29-30), where he tied his career-low round 67 in the first round … tied for eighth-place at the Cabo Collegiate (3/1-3), where he opened with rounds of 69-68 … his 54-hole score of 208 was a career-low … tied for 18^th-place at the Trinity Forest Invitational (10/5-7).

Reggie Zhu – No. 4 position … averaging 73.10 strokes per round … nine rounds of par or better … is fifth in school history in career stroke average (73.36) and in average vs. par (1.81) … tied for 12^th-place at the Trinity Forest Invitational (10/7-9), where he fired a season-low 67 in the final round … tied for 13^th at the Bayou City Collegiate Classic (9/29-30), where he helped the Owls to the team title.

Raines Watson – No. 5 position … averaging 73.48 strokes per round … 11 rounds of par or better … three rounds in the 60's … fourth on the team with 74 birdies … tied for fourth-place at the Bentwater Intercollegiate (2/9-10), closing with a pair of 70's … 12^th-place at the Bayou City Collegiate Classic (9/29-30) … set a season-best for low 54-hole score (212) at the Hal Williams Collegiate (2/16-17) … fired a season-best 67 in the first round of the Cabo Collegiate (3/1).

PAIRINGS

The Owls will tee off at 7:30 a.m. CT from holes No. 14-18. Rice will compete in groups with student-athletes from Augusta, Duke, and Wake Forest. Tuesday's tee times and pairings will depend on results following the previous round.

UP NEXT

Following the Valspar Collegiate Invitational, the Owls will travel West Point, Miss., for the Mossy Oak Intercollegiate, their final tournament of the regular season on Apr. 13-14.

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