North Carolina State University Athletics
Wolfpack Tees It Up This Weekend
2/5/2004 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Feb. 5, 2004
The NC State men's golf team opens its spring season this weekend at the Mercedes-Benz Collgiate Championship Feb. 8-10 at Sawgrass Country Club in Ponte Vedra, Fla. Hosted by the University of North Florida, the weekend begins with a practice round and a College-Am Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 7.
Deemed as the first major collegiate golf tournament of the year, the road to the NCAA Tournament begins in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., at the Mercedes-Benz Collegiate Championships.
Eighteen of the best men's collegiate golf teams in the country will gather on the seaside layout of Sawgrass Country Club - former site of The Players Championship - Feb. 8-10 in search of the prestigious MBCC title. This is the fifth year in a row that Sawgrass has played host to the event on its par 72, 6,955-yard layout.
Throughout the years the MBCC has continued to grow in stature, and this year is no exception, as the field has been expanded to 18 teams and the tournament stretched out to three days.
This year's field includes the top three teams in the Sagarin/Golfweek rankings at the beginning of the spring season: Florida, Clemson and Georgia. The who's who of college golf doesn't stop there however, as nine of the top 25 teams in the country are entered in the field. No team will come into the tournament with a ranking out of the top 83 in the nation, with 14 of the teams in the top 50.
With the top teams also come the top golfers, as five of the top 25 golfers in the nation will all vie for the individual crown. Ninth-ranked Matt Hendrix of Clemson leads a group that includes Oklahoma State's Casey Wittenburg (No. 10), Florida's Matt Every (No. 11), Kentucky's John Holmes (No. 14), Florida's Camilo Villegas (No. 20) and Clemson's Jack Ferguson (No. 24).
Defending individual champion D.J. Trahan of Clemson has graduated and moved on to the pro ranks, but Duke's Ryan Blaum and North Carolina's Dustin Bray are back for another crack at the winning the title along with Villegas. Blaum and Bray both lost out to Trahan in a playoff last year, while Villegas won the individual title two years ago.
Oklahoma State's Casey Wittenburg - runner up at the 2003 US Amateur - and North Florida's Michael Young - winner of the 2003 Country Club of Louisiana - are two freshmen who will both look to make a run at the title as well.
Augusta State took home the team title last season, ending a four-year run by the University of Florida. Other past winners in this year's event include South Carolina, Florida State and the host UNF. The host Ospreys finished 14th in last year's event, ending a string of three straight top three finishes.
For more information visit www.unf.edu/sports/golf/index.html where there will be a link to live scoring as well.
