Oct. 3, 2008

MEMPHIS, Tenn.--The University of Memphis men's golf team will host the fifth annual Memphis Intercollegiate on October 6-7. The tournament will be held at the par- 72 7,334-yard Colonial Country Club.

The field includes 11 of the nation's top 100 teams, making this one of the most competitive tournaments of the year. The defending champion, Ole Miss, has the highest ranking coming into this weekend at #13.

"This may be the best field we've had in five years of this event. I'm excited to get things underway," said Tiger head coach Grant Robbins.

The Tigers look to build off last week's seventh place finish at the Mason Rudolph Championship. After a rough first round, the Tigers rebounded in the last two rounds to climb seven spots on the leader board and post a three day total of 864 (295-284-285).

The U of M looks to continue their success in the Memphis Intercollegiate, having finished in the top-10 each of the last four years--including back to back wins in 2004 and 2005. Last year, the Tigers finished third in the rain-shortened event with sophomore Brandon Bunn as the low man for the Tigers, shooting an even-par 144 (71-73) to finish fifth in the individual competition.

"I hope our team can use last year's tournament as a learning experience for this year. We were in second after the first round last year, but had some difficulty finishing. This year, I'm confident we are prepared to make a strong showing," said Coach Robbins.

Freshman Jack Belote looks to continue his strong play from the Mason Rudolph Championship last weekend. Belote was named the Conference USA male golfer of the week after shooting a three round total of 215 (76-68-71) to finish in a tie for 17th in his first collegiate competition.

The Memphis Intercollegiate tees off on Monday October 6 at 8:00 a.m. (CT). Live scoring for the event will be available at www.golfstat.com.