Oct. 9, 2010
COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Baylor men's golf team will participate in its third event of the fall Oct. 11-12 at the inaugural Jack Nicklaus Invitational hosted by The Ohio State University.
The 54-hole tournament will be held at the par-70, 7,140-yard Scioto Country Club with 36 holes Monday and the final 18 holes on Tuesday. In addition to Baylor and Ohio State, the 10-team field includes Arkansas, Illinois, Kent State, LSU, Oklahoma State, Purdue, Texas and USC. Live scoring for each round will be available online at www.GolfStatResults.com.
"The Jack Nicklaus Invitational will be a great event and our guys get the opportunity to play at a prestigious course like Scioto," head coach Greg Priest said. "It's a tough field so we will have to be ready to play and compete.
The upperclassmen trio of Payne Gniewek, Lorenzo Scotto and Joakim Mikkelsen will anchor Baylor's lineup at the Jack Nicklaus. Sophomore Jerry Ruiz and freshman Niclas Mansson will make their season debuts in Baylor's lineup.
"We're trying to find a solid five-man lineup," Priest said. "It's the same thing as last year. We need to get production out of the bottom of the lineup. We have to find the right combination of guys and this lineup gives us a chance with that."
Earlier this month, Baylor finished seventh at the William H. Tucker Intercollegiate in Albuquerque, N.M. Playing as an individual in his first collegiate event, Mansson shot 4-over 220 to tie for 12th - the best finish by a Baylor golfer in the event.
"This week will be Niclas' first appearance in the lineup," Priest said. "He had a tremendous performance playing as an individual in New Mexico. We also have Jerry Ruiz back in the lineup.
"Jerry played well for us last spring and shot a 63 in the final round of qualifying so I'm eager to see what both can do," Priest said.
Scotto leads the Bears with a 72.50 scoring average after two tournaments. Scotto has carded scores of par or better in five of his six rounds. Mikkelsen is second behind Scotto with a 72.67 scoring average, while posting two top-25 finishes.
TOURNAMENT INFO
Event: Jack Nicklaus Invitational
Dates: Mon., Oct. 11-Tue., Oct. 12
Location/Course: Columbus, Ohio/Scioto CC
Par/Yardage: 70/7,140
Rating/Slope: 74.3/142
Field (10 teams): Arkansas, Baylor, Illinois, Kent State, LSU, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Purdue, Texas, USC
