Men's Golf Opens Season at Gopher Invite
9/6/2014 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
WACO, Texas - The Baylor men's golf team begins its first season under new head coach Mike McGraw on Sunday at the 10th-annual Gopher Invitational. The two-day, 54-hole event is hosted by the University of Minnesota at Windsong Farm Golf Club in Independence, Minn.
The tournament will be played on a par-71, 7,152-yard course. Baylor is one of 14 teams in a field that includes Alabama Birmingham, California, Central Arkansas, Charlotte, Kent State, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, New Mexico, Notre Dame, San Francisco, St, John's and VCU.
McGraw took over as Baylor's head coach after serving one year as assistant coach for Alabama, the 2014 national champions. Prior to spending the 2013-14 season at Alabama, McGraw was named Big 12 Conference Coach of the Year five times in his eight seasons as men's golf head coach at Oklahoma State.
"I like the fact that we have four seniors and one junior that are going to this first tournament," McGraw said. "These kids all have a lot of experience, which is great. All of them have played one or both of these golf courses, so it won't be a brand new experience for them."
Baylor returns 11 of 12 players from a team that competed in its 17th consecutive NCAA Regional in 2014, including senior Kyle Jones, who was named as an honorable mention All-American by Golfweek.
"I am expecting big things," Jones said. "I can't tell you what they are or when they are going to happen, but I am expecting big things for this year."
The Bears lineup is comprised of seniors Jones, Niclas Mansson, Mikkel Bjerch-Andresen and Filippo Zucchetti and junior Andreas Gjesteby.
"I want these kids to think on an elite level, and I don't mean being an elitist," McGraw said. "I want them thinking in the way that champions think, the way that they handle themselves and the way they handle their personal lives. Those things are important to me."
Sunday's first round tee times for the Bears will begin at 9 a.m. CT, and Baylor is paired with California and Kent State. Baylor will tee off on the first hole with Gjesteby off first for the Bears, followed by Mansson, Zucchetti, Bjerch-Andresen and Jones in nine-minute intervals, respectively.
For live scoring information throughout the tournament, visit www.birdiefire.com. Follow @BaylorMGolf on twitter for updates throughout the season.
Players Mentioned
