COLLEGE GOLF LIVE HEADS TO VEGAS
LA QUINTA, CA – It was a rough start to the final round for San Diego State sophomore Leo Oyo. Despite beginning the last day of The Prestige Presented by Charles Schwab with a two-stroke lead on the desert-set Greg Norman Course at PGA West, he quickly picked up two bogeys on the first two holes. Oyo proceeded to go 7-under over the rest of the round, including five birdies and a chip-in eagle on the 16th. After finishing almost last the previous year (77th out of an 82-man field), Oyo’s first college win was particularly sweet, and an emotional kick-off for College Golf Live’s 2020 Spring Series.
College Golf Live brings professional telecast coverage to the best college and amateur tournaments. Our curated events feature top programs on some of the country’s most compelling golf courses, with golf personalities like major champion Steve Elkington and current Tour player Ricky Barnes providing authoritative commentary. For this year’s Spring Series, golf audiences can find us streaming live on Golfweek.com and Golfstat.com.
The Series continues Tuesday, March 3, with final round coverage of the Southern Highlands Collegiate in Las Vegas, Nevada, hosted by UNLV. Tucked against a desert ridge on the southern approach to Vegas, Southern Highlands Golf Club features dramatic elevation changes and tee box views of the Strip. This year’s contest is shaping up to be a mid-season showdown, with major golf programs from the SEC, ACC, Big 12, and Pac 12 conferences and 7 of the year’s top 10 ranked squads. After a commanding win at The Prestige by Charles Schwab, capped off by a final round 65 by senior Spencer Soosman, the Texas Longhorns will look to continue their promising start against a stacked line-up including Texas Tech (#5), Georgia Tech (#3), Oklahoma (#2) and current #1 Pepperdine.
For individual competitors, the Southern Highlands Collegiate offers a little extra incentive: the winner receives an exemption into the PGA Tour’s annual Las Vegas event, the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, hosted by nearby TPC at Summerlin. Last year’s champion, UNLV’s own Jack Trent, picked up the exemption along with his first college win in a dramatic showdown against Texas headliner Cole Hammer, and went on to go 14-under over four rounds in his first Tour event.
This year’s Southern Highlands field features 5 of the top 10 amateur golfers in the world, including Sandy Scott of Texas Tech (#10), selected to the British squad in last year’s Walker Cup; Davis Thompson of Georgia (#8), who competed at last week’s PGA Tour stop in Puerto Rico; Cole Hammer of Texas (#7), 2019’s top amateur with upcoming exemptions for the 2020 US Open and British Open; Sahith Theegala of Pepperdine (#5), who already has two wins on the season; and Ricky Castillo of Florida (#2), who is coming off of back to back collegiate wins. Former Southern Highlands winners include Tour veterans Stewart Cink, David Duval, David Gossett, Ryan Moore and Phil Mickelson.
Audiences can tune in at Golfweek.com/SouthernHighlands2020 and Golfstat.com to view the action on computer or mobile. Coverage for the livestream will be provided by PGA Tour favorite Ricky Barnes, broadcaster Taylor Zarzour, and on-course reporter Diane Knox.
The drama continues the following week when the Series visits Oregon’s stunning coastline for the Bandon Dunes Championship, hosted by University of Idaho. Teams will compete at the Pacific Dunes course, a world class golf destination ranked 17th in the U.S. by Golf Digest and rarely opened for elite televised competition. Golf course architect Tom Doak’s renowned masterpiece will be an amazing setting for this year’s Pac 12 face-off, with six conference teams including Oregon, UCLA, and Washington.
On March 17, the Series will conclude with the Valspar Collegiate at Floridian National Golf Club in Palm City, Florida, a build up to the PGA Tour’s Valspar Championship that same week. Situated along the lush marshland banks of the Lucie River, the Floridian’s challenging finish with 17th and 18th shoreline greens makes for lively competition. The Valspar Collegiate, hosted by 16-time national champion University of Houston, boasts the top-ranked regular season field in all of college golf. This year’s event will include teams from the SEC, ACC, and Big 12 conferences. In last year’s tournament, current PGA Tour member Matthew Wolff proved victorious with a 14-under three round total.
Join us to watch the 2020 season unfold at collegegolflive.com and on Twitter @collegegolflive.
CONTACT:
Scott MacDonald
College Golf Live
(310) 907-6291
Scott@collegegolftv.com