Laramie, Wyo. (Feb. 9, 2019) -- Wyoming Cowboys
John Murdock and
Dan Starzinski will have the special honor of playing in the 2019 Genesis Open Collegiate Showcase Pro-Am on Monday, Feb. 11. The two Cowboy golfers will be playing in separate foursomes. Each foursome will include one collegiate golfer, a PGA Tour professional and two amateurs/donors representing their respective universities. The event was created in 2015 in connection with the TGR Foundation, a Tiger Woods Charity.
Murdock and Starzinski are two of only 18 collegiate players competing in this year's event. Each collegiate golfer will play their own ball throughout the Pro-Am. The top collegiate finisher in the Pro-Am will earn a spot in next week's PGA Genesis Open. The Collegiate Showcase Pro-Am and the Genesis Open will be played on the famed Riveria Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif. Tee times for the Collegiate Showcase will begin at 9:30 a.m., Mountain Time (8:30 a.m., Pacific) on Monday.
"This is a very unique event that gives the young men in our golf program an opportunity to team with our donors and play in an event that benefits college golf," said
Joe Jensen, University of Wyoming Director of Golf and Head Coach. "It will also give John (Murdock) and Dan (Starzinski) the chance to play alongside PGA Tour professionals and see how they compete and handle themselves on a golf course.
"Of course the ultimate opportunity that this event provides is the top collegiate finisher in the Pro-Am will earn a bid into the PGA's Genesis Open later next week. I told John and Dan I want them to go into the round with the attitude that they can win the event and earn a bid into the Genesis Open as an amateur.
"The other neat thing about this round is both of their fathers are going to serve as their caddies."
Murdock's father John and Starzinski's father Al will be caddying for their sons on Monday.
The PGA Tour professional and the two amateurs in each group will play a best-ball format as a team, with the top three-person team winning a $50,000 donation to the two amateurs' university golf program. The Wyoming amateurs playing with Murdock and Starzinski will be UW donors Rick Gasser, Clayton Hartman, Pat Higgins and Tom Long. The registration fee for the two amateurs/donors in each group is $25,000. In addition to the $50,000 that is awarded to the university golf program of the winning team, youth throughout Southern California benefit annually through access to the game of golf during the Genesis Open, and thousands of local students benefit from participating in STEM education and college-access programs of the TGR Foundation.
Among the collegiate golf programs that have participated in the previous four Genesis Open Collegiate Showcases are: Arizona, Arizona State, Baylor, Colorado, Georgia, Illinois, Kentucky, Northwestern, Oklahoma State, Oregon, Pepperdine, Texas, Texas A&M, UCLA, UNLV, USC, Wake Forest and Washington.
Some of the PGA TOUR professionals who have played in the Collegiate Showcase Pro-Am are: Paul Casey, Luke Donald, Jim Furyk, Bill Haas, Charley Hoffman, J.B. Holmes, Jordan Spieth and Jimmy Walker.
