Upstate Opens Season at Ocean Course on Kiawah Island
9/7/2012 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
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Spartanburg, S.C. - Just a few weeks removed from hosting the world's greatest golfers, the Ocean Course on Kiawah Island, S.C., will play host to the Invitational at the Ocean Course, and the USC Upstate men's golf team will be one of 15 teams battling for the championship starting Sunday morning.
Upstate is making its second trip to the Ocean Course to participate in the Invitational being hosted by the College of Charleston. The Ocean Course was the site of last month's PGA Championship won by Rory McIlroy. It was previously the site of the 1992 Ryder Cup and the 2007 Senior PGA Championship. It plays at 7,200 yards and is a par-72 layout. The tournament is unique in that six players will play for each team, with the four best scores counting toward the team score each round. The 54-hole tournament will have 18 holes played Sunday-Tuesday. Upstate finished tied for ninth in last year's event with Adam Goins leading the way while finishing tied for 15th individually.
Upstate is one of 15 teams in a strong field that boasts eight teams in the Top 100 in the country in the latest Golfstat ranking, including two in the Top 40. Joining Upstate (No. 152) in the tournament is Akron (114), UAB (38), College of Charleston (87), Davidson (126), Florida (18), Georgia Southern (83), Houston (56), Mercer (91), South Florida (98), USC Aiken (N/A, DII), St. John's (137), Stephan F. Austin (139), Texas-Arlington (66) and Texas State (106).
Upstate head coach Todd Lawton will take the lineup of Adam Goins, Matthew Hopper, Brian Horton, Will Graves, Ryan Cornfield and Brad Sill into action this week. Goins, Hopper, Horton and Sill each played in the Invitational last year. Graves is seeing his first tournament action since his freshman season, while Cornfield will get his first collegiate start.
