University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Head to Carolina for Pinehurst Invite
3/14/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Pinehurst Invitational: After a couple of weeks away from the links, the University of Minnesota men's golf team will head to North Carolina to compete in the Pinehurst Invitational. The 54-hole tournament will be played at Pinehurst No. 8, which will be set up for a par 72 and 7,092 yards.
The 20-team event is a three-day‎tournament that begins with a practice round on March 14 with round one beginning on Sunday, March 15. The final round will be played on Tuesday, March 17. The field includes Ball State, Belmont, Eastern Kentucky, Marquette, Marshall, Miami of Ohio, Michigan State, Michigan, Minnesota, UNC Greensboro, UNC Wilmington, Old Dominion, Penn State, Radford, Southern Mississippi, Toledo, Virginia Commonwealth, Virginia Tech, Western Illinois and Wichita State.
Live scoring ‎will be available each round on golfstat.com.
Last Time Out: The Gophers men’s golf team carded its best score on the final day of the NCAA Shootout with a combined score of 2-over par 290 and finished in a tie for 12th place with a 54-hole score of 881 (296-295-290).
Ben Pisani, who led the Gophers in stroke average during the fall, improved each day by a stroke to finish in a tie for 35th with a 3-over par 219 (74-73-72). Victor Almstrom (73-72-75, 220) finished one shot behind Pisani and tied for 42nd place.
Thomas Campbell recorded the low-round of the weekend on Sunday for the Gophers with a 3-under par 69 to finish the tournament with a 54-hole score of 222. Derek Chang finished in a tie for 54th with a score of 224 while Yu Katayama finished alone in 66th place with a 229.
Steady Improvement: Junior Ben Pisani (Brisbane, Australia) arrived at the University of Minnesota in the Fall of 2006 after a stellar high school career. He played in 11 tournaments as a true freshman and established a career-low round of 69 in the 2007 NCAA Championships.
Pisani’s stroke average has improved each year and he is leading the Gophers with 73.47 stroke average this season while playing in all of the team’s six tournaments.
The Gophers: Minnesota’s lineup will consist of seniors Victor Almstrom and Yu Katayama along with junior Ben Pisani, sophomore Cameron White and freshman Derek Chang.
Up Next: The Gophers will be part of the Augusta Invitational field in Augusta, Georgia. The event is scheduled for Apr. 4-5 and will be played at Forest Hills Golf Club.
Players Mentioned
