Aug. 29, 2009
RIVERSIDE, Iowa — The Vanderbilt men’s golf team opens the 2009-10 season this weekend as the Golfweek Collegiate Conference Challenge tees off on Sunday at the Riverside Casino and Resort. The Commodores, representing the Southeastern Conference, will be part of a 15-team field of premier squads from across the country in the inaugural year of the 54-hole event.
Seniors Hudson Johnson and Chris Rockwell, junior Ryan Haselden, and sophomores Ben Klaus and Trey DelGreco will play in Vanderbilt’s first event of the season. Johnson and Haselden both competed in last week’s U.S. Amateur. Klaus returns to the Commodore lineup after redshirting a season ago.
Head Coach Tom Shaw’s Commodores spent eight days in Scotland this summer, and look to start off quickly in a season that they hope will end at the NCAA Championships at the Honors Course in Chattanooga, Tenn.
The field for this week’s event includes: Florida State (ACC), Xavier (Atlantic 10), Baylor (Big 12), South Florida (Big East), Coastal Carolina (Big South), Iowa (Big Ten), VCU (Colonial Athletic Association), Memphis (Conference USA), Illinois State (Missouri Valley), California (Pac-10), Vanderbilt (SEC), Georgia Southern (Southern), Texas-Arlington (Southland), Middle Tennessee State (Sun Belt) and New Mexico State (WAC).
Following this week’s tournament, the Commodores will return home and play host to their own Mason Rudolph Championship, Sept. 25-27, at the Vanderbilt Legends Club in Franklin, Tenn.
