Men's Golf Opens Season At Golfweek Challenge
September 18, 2010 | Men's Golf
Sept. 18, 2010
BURLINGTON, Iowa - The East Carolina men's golf team opens its 2010 fall season Sept. 19-21 at Golfweek's Conference Challenge at Spirit Hollow Golf Club.
Golfweek has consistently ranked the par-72, 7,380-yard Spirit Hollow Golf Club has as one of the top courses in the state. The second-year, 54-hole event will be held over three days beginning Sunday at 9 a.m. before wrapping up the championships with 18 holes on both Monday and Tuesday.
"Last year we were in position to be in a regional, but we didn't get the call which was disappointing," Pirate head coach Press McPhaul said. "This year because we have a lot of returnees and guys had good summers, we are starting with the expectation of going to a regional."
The Challenge features 15 schools, representing 15 different conferences: Baylor (Big 12), Campbell (Atlantic Sun), East Carolina (Conference USA), Eastern Michigan (MAC), Furman (Southern), Iowa (Big Ten), Liberty (Big South), Middle Tennessee (Sun Belt), Nevada (WAC), New Mexico (Mountain West), North Carolina State (ACC), Southeastern Louisiana (Southland), UC Irvine (Big West), Virginia Commonwealth (Colonial) and San Francisco (West Coast).
Twelve teams in the field finished the 2009-10 season ranked in the top 75 of the Golfweek/Sagarin College Rankings, including the Pirates who finished the season ranked 73rd.
"It's a great opportunity for us and we are very proud to be the Conference USA representative," McPhaul said. "This event has a regional feel to it and it gives us the chance to make a statement. It's also a great opportunity for us to have a good strength of schedule starting out the year."
McPhaul will send junior Harold Varner to the tee in the No. 1 spot this weekend. The Gastonia native earned an at-large individual invitation to the NCAA Yale Regional last season and qualified for the U.S. Amateur over the summer. Warren Straub, the team's lone senior, will play No. 2, while classmate junior Adam Stephenson, also a 2010 U.S. Amateur Qualifier, will man the third spot in the lineup. Junior David Watkins, an All-Conference USA First-Team player last season, and redshirt freshman Ryan Eibner will round out this weekend's Pirate lineup and play Nos. 4 and 5, respectively.
Live scoring for the Golfweek Conference Challenge will be available at golfstat.com.
