Wildcats Send Five to NCI Tournament
10/03/2015 | Men's Golf
Date: October 4-6
Location: Portland, Ore.
Course: Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club
Tee Times: 8:00 a.m. (PDT) Sunday, Monday, Tuesday
Live Scoring: golfstatresults.com
TUCSON, Ariz. – The Arizona men's golf team is on their way to Portland to compete tomorrow in the Nike Golf Collegiate Invitational tournament. Nike, Oregon, and Oregon State are hosting the event, and the field they have invited is composed of 14 teams. The five Wildcats competing in the team competition are George Cunningham, Jordan Gumberg, Ari Gulugian, Jake Kreuz, and Andrew Garner.
“The NCI Invitational is the most premiere event of the year including a field of top teams from college golf,” commented head coach Jim Anderson. “We have prepared by focusing on fundamentals around the greens and discussing the importance of picking good targets. We will emphasize patience because this course will challenge a player who tries to overpower it.”
Teams will play at the Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club which has two courses: the Ghost Creek course at par-71, 6,384 yards, and the Witch Hollow course at par-72, 7,015 yards. The competition will take place over 54 holes, 18 per day, with golfers playing the Ghost Creek course in the first round and the Witch Hollow course in the second and third rounds.
Sophomore George Cunningham is making his return to the field for this tournament, something the team has been looking forward to. Last year he competed in 14 tournaments, averaging 71.60 strokes per round. This is enough for second best on the freshman single-season list, and ties for ninth best on the overall list. Cunningham placed in the top-ten in six different tournaments and had 19 rounds of par or better at the end of last year. The Wildcats hope to see more of the same from him.
"I am very excited to be playing again," said Cunningham. "I have been working hard on my game and it seems very good. I think with the experience I have from last year and this summer that I can play well and hopefully have a chance of winning this week."
Last year at the NCI Tournament, the University of Arizona placed 11th at 18 over par. They were led by freshman George Cunningham, who tied for 39th by carding 14 over par. Oregon captured the championship last year.
For live scoring of the Nike Golf Collegiate Invitational, visit the GolfStats website at golfstatresults.com. For more information and updates about the University of Arizona men's golf team, follow @UAWildcatsGolf on Twitter, uawildcatsgolf on Instagram and like us on Facebook at facebook.com/ArizonaWildcatsGolf.
