University of Minnesota Athletics
Gophers Head to Royal Oaks Intercollegiate
10/21/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Round 1 Pairings 
| Round 2 Pairings | Live Scoring
Minnesota hits the road once again on Monday. This time it will head to Dallas to compete in the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate. The 54-hole tournament, hosted by Baylor, tees off Monday, Oct. 24 at 8:30 a.m. and runs through Tuesday, Oct. 25.
The travel squad: Each team is sending at least six competitors, with five scores counting each round. Justin Doeden, Thomas Longbella, Riley Johnson, Rúnar Arnorsson and Peter Jones, who all competed at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational, return to action. William Leaf will compete for the first time since the Gopher Invitational while Matt Rachey will compete as an individual.
"This year, our depth is one of our strengths as a team," head coach John Carlson said. "Any of our guys can shoot good rounds. I think we are going to have an advantage going down there as a team"
The field: Charlotte, Houston, Kent State, New Mexico, Pepperdine, SMU, UT Arlington, host Baylor and Big Ten rivals Iowa and Michigan make up the 11-team field.
The Gophers continue to play the best of the best this year, participating in their third straight tournament with at least five teams in GolfWeek's top 50. Kent State, New Mexico, SMU, Baylor and Michigan all find themselves ranked.
Carlson said that this is a tough field, but it is one Minnesota is relatively familiar with. It has competed against seven of these teams this season.
The course: Royal Oaks Country club plays at par-71 and 7,068 yards.
"The golf course is really fair," Carlson said. "It actually reminds me of courses in Minnesota."
Notes: Minnesota tied for eighth at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational with its best performance of the season. The team shot 17-under 835 including its best round since 1998, carding 269 in the opening round. Carlson was impressed by the strong start the team had, describing it as one of the best rounds in program history.
Four of the five Gophers that traveled finished with their best score to par. Justin Doeden was once again the Gophers' top performer, continuing his impressive streak by notching his third straight top 20 finish to start the season. He carded a 5-under 218 and placed 18th.
With two tournaments remaining in the fall, Carlson is so impressed with what he has seen so far that he doesn't want the fall season to end.
"We enjoy being around this group whether it's in practice or on the road," he said. "Not only are we playing well, but the culture is tremendous here right now."
Players Mentioned
