The Seattle University men’s golf team welcomes 17 other intercollegiate teams to the Pacific Northwest next week for the second annual Redhawk Invitational, once again to be held at Chambers Bay, the home of the 2015 United States Open Championship.
Besides the host Redhawks, the University of Washington returns to the tournament after finishing second last year, as do Boise State and Seton Hall. Seattle U will also welcome 14 newcomers to the invitational, including Pac-12 school Utah, Big Ten member Rutgers, Big 12 school TCU, and WAC rivals Utah Valley and Missouri-Kansas City. They will be joined by British Columbia, Cal State Fullerton, Drexel, Fairleigh Dickinson, George Washington, Incarnate Word, North Dakota State, South Dakota State, and William and Mary.
"We are beyond excited to host the second annual Redhawk Invitational at Chambers Bay, just prior to the United States Open. What a fabulous opportunity for the many teams we have traveling in from all over the country. I would like to thank the staff at Chambers Bay for helping us make this possible and the teams committed to the event. Admission is free, and we encourage people to come out and watch the future tour stars on a championship venue," Seattle U head coach Marc Chandonnet said.
Three of the five players for Seattle U participated in last year’s Redhawk Invitational: Kyle Cornett (Mill Creek, Wash.), who was the Redhawks’ top player last April, Ross Kukula (Ocean Park, Wash.), and Patrick Sato (Bellevue, Wash.). They will be joined by Joe Harvie (Orting, Wash.) and Jamie Hall (Seattle, Wash.), with Shane Wathanasaynee (Los Alamitos, Calif.) competing as an individual.
The tournament will begin with a practice round Sunday, April 5, followed by the first two rounds Monday, April 6, and the third and final round Tuesday, April 7. All three days will feature a shotgun start, with the tee times scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sunday and 8 a.m. on Monday and Tuesday.
This tournament is taking place just two months before the U.S. Open, when the best professional players in the world descend upon Chambers Bay in their attempt to win a major championship. The United States Golf Association (USGA) always strives to make the U.S. Open a tough test, so the course will probably play close to those championship conditions. Therefore, it is expected that the winning scores will be higher than last year’s totals of 200 (-11) for medalist honors and 835 (-9) for the team title.
The weather forecast calls for mostly cloudy skies throughout the tournament, with temperatures in the 50s. Spectators are welcome to walk the course during the tournament. Live scoring will be available at: http://www.golfstatresults.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=participants&tid=5671.