Aug. 11, 2010

2010-11 Schedule | Printable Schedule

By Wes Todd
Assistant Media Relations Director

COLUMBIA, S.C. – Three new events and several old favorites will be on tap for a young South Carolina men’s golf team in 2010-11 as head coach Bill McDonald released the season schedule on Wednesday.

Two seasoned veterans – rising junior Wesley Bryan and rising sophomore Clint Tolleson – return from a team that earned at least a share of first place in two events last season and took runner-up honors three times. Sophomore Dean Hester has two varsity events under his belt, and fellow sophomore Dykes Harbin and senior Chase Liebler played in several junior varsity events last season. Michael Raines, who redshirted last season, and incoming freshmen Logan Harrell, Caulder Moore and Blaine Woodruff will be newcomers to the Gamecock lineup that will face several strong fields while playing some of the top golf courses in the country.

As has been their custom for the last four years, the Gamecocks will open their fall schedule Sept. 10-12 at the Carpet Capital Collegiate in Rocky Face, Ga. Two weeks later, South Carolina will look to make it three years in a row to earn a share of the top spot at the Mason Rudolph Invitational, which runs Sept. 24-26 in Franklin, Tenn.

Another three-peat is in sight for Carolina at the Rees Jones Intercollegiate on Daufuskie Island Oct. 4-5, where the Gamecocks won by a whopping 37 shots in 2009. The fall season wraps up with the prestigious U.S. Collegiate Championship, which runs Oct. 24-26 in Alpharetta, Ga.

The spring season begins with a trip to Wilmington, N.C., for the Seahawk Invitational, which will be played at the Country Club of Landfall Feb. 27-28. Spring break will then take the Gamecocks to the West Coast for a week, where they will compete in the Bandon Dunes Championship in Bandon, Ore. – site of the 2011 U.S. Amateur Public Links and Women’s Public Links championships – March 11-12.

With the NCAA Championship utilizing a match-play format to determine the national champion, the Gamecocks will get a taste of the game at the GCAA Match Play Championship as they compete at Hawks Ridge Golf Club in Ball Ground, Ga., March 20-22. A pair of traditional events round out the regular season with a trip to the Hootie at Bulls Bay March 27-29 and the short jaunt to the Administaff Augusta State Invitational from April 2-3.

As usual, the SEC Championship will be played in St. Simons Island, Ga., April 15-17, with the Gamecocks seeking their initial Southeastern Conference title. The team will then have a month to prepare for the postseason with NCAA Regionals on tap for six sites May 19-21 and the NCAA Championship slated for Oklahoma State’s Karsten Creek Golf Club, running May 31-June 5.