Sept. 30, 2010

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. - The Baylor men's golf team will participate in its second event of the fall Oct. 1-2 at the University of New Mexico's 56th Annual William H. Tucker Intercollegiate.

The 54-hole tournament will be held at the Lobos' home course - the par-72, 7,566-yard UNM Championship Golf Course - with 36 holes Friday and the final 18 holes on Saturday. Friday's first round will begin with an 8:45 a.m. CT shotgun start, immediately followed by the second round. The final round will also feature an 8:45 a.m. CT shotgun start on Saturday.

Baylor is joined in the 16-team field by Arizona, BYU, Colorado, New Mexico (A and B teams), New Mexico State, North Texas, Northern Colorado, Pepperdine, San Diego State, Toledo, Utah, UTEP, UTSA and Wyoming. Live scoring for each round will be available online at www.GolfStatResults.com.

At the 2009 William H. Tucker Intercollegiate, Baylor finished fourth overall, while Payne Gniewek (2-under 214) and Joakim Mikkelsen (1-under 215) placed 12th and 13th, respectively. UNLV won both the team and individual titles in 2009.

Last week at Golfweek's Conference Challenge in Burlington, Iowa, Baylor opened its 2010 season with a fifth-place finish.

"We're looking to improve each week," head coach Greg Priest said. "I thought we played really well at the Golfweek Challenge earlier, but we had some high numbers and didn't finish great.

"The guys responded really well and we want to be sure to give ourselves a chance to win heading into the final round," Priest said.

Baylor's lineup will include all five starters from its 2010 NCAA finals appearance - seniors Gniewek and Cody Paladino, juniors Mikkelsen and Lorenzo Scotto and sophomore Ryan O'Rear. Freshman Niclas Mansson will participate individually in his career-first college tournament.

"Having played this course before is really important and will make us a little more comfortable," Priest said. "We've seen the pin placements from previous years, which could give us a leg up against some other teams. Everyone in the lineup has played this course before.

At the season-opening Golfweek Challenge, Scotto carded the lowest 54-hole score of his career (5-under 211) to tie for a career-best sixth place. Mikkelsen (3-under 213) and Gniewek (2-under 214) also finished the Golfweek under-par, giving the Bears three top-20 finishers.

TOURNAMENT INFO
Event: 56th Annual William H. Tucker Intercollegiate
Dates: Fri., Oct. 1-Sat., Oct. 2
Location/Course: Albuquerque, N.M./UNM Championship Course
Par/Yardage: 72/7,591
Field (16 teams): Arizona, Baylor, BYU, Colorado, New Mexico (A and B teams), New Mexico State, North Texas, Northern Colorado, Pepperdine, San Diego State, Toledo, Utah, UTEP, UTSA and Wyoming