LARAMIE, Wyo. – Following the cancellation of the Paintbrush Invitational due to snow, the University of Wyoming men's golf team will host a tournament for the first time this season on Saturday and Sunday. The Cowboys will welcome nine other teams, as well as individual players from Arizona and Arizona State, to the Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club in Maricopa, Ariz., for the Wyoming Southern Dunes Invitational.
The Cowboys will attempt to carry their momentum south into Arizona after three successful tournaments in the state of Colorado to start the fall season. Wyoming has not finished lower than third in the team standings so far this season while junior
John Murdock has finished in the top five on the individual leaderboard in each of UW's tournaments. The Laramie, Wyo., native currently ranks second in the Mountain West for scoring average this season at 68.33, just 0.21 strokes back of Boise State senior Donny Hopoi. Murdock will compete in the same field as Hopoi for the first time this year as he heads up the Cowboy lineup this weekend. Hopoi's scoring average ranks sixth in the NCAA this year, while Murdock's is tied for ninth.
Following Murdock in the Cowboy lineup is senior
Drew McCullough, who is coming off a tie for 30
th at the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational after a 54-hole score of 216 (E). So far this season, McCullough has the second-best scoring average for the Cowboys at 70.2. Following him in the lineup is fellow senior
Glenn Workman, who also shot 216 (E) to tie for 30
th place at Mark Simpson. Historically, Workman has played well at Southern Dunes, with two top-25 finishes at the course on his resumé. Through three tournaments this fall, Workman's scoring average sits at 71.7.
Senior
Quintin Pope will attempt to stay hot on the links at Southern Dunes, coming off his first top-10 finish of the season at Mark Simpson. Pope carded a 54-hole score of 210 (-6), playing steady throughout the tournament to finish in a tie for ninth place. In 2015, Pope finished in a tie for 15
th place at Southern Dunes with a score of 219 (+3). Rounding out the Cowboy lineup this weekend is senior
Arron Lickteig, who also posted a top-25 finish at Southern Dunes in 2015. Sophomore
Dan Starzinski, a Phoenix native, will play as an individual for the Cowboys alongside freshman
Carl Underwood.
The course setup at the par-72, 7,546-yard Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club will mirror the setup used for the final three rounds of the first stage of 2017 PGA Tour Qualifying School, which the club hosted Sept. 26-29. Former Idaho and Arizona State golfer and 2014 Wyoming Southern Dunes Invitational winner Jared du Toit was the winner of the 72-hole event.
Stay tuned to live results at the link above and follow
@wyo_golf on twitter for updates from the 2017 Wyoming Southern Dunes Invitational.
