TicketsOct. 6, 2013
The University of Cincinnati men's golf team plays host to the Bearcat Invitational, Oct. 7-8, at Traditions Golf Club (par 72, 7,100 yards) in Hebron, Ky.
The 54-hole tournament begins Monday at 11:30 a.m. ET. The shotgun start was pushed back later in the morning due to inclement weather over the weekend. The second round will start on Monday and restart Tuesday at 9 a.m. Final-round play will start following the conclusion of second-round action on Tuesday.
UC will field a Red and Black team in the tournament and compete against 14 other schools: defending tournament-winner Austin Peay, Belmont, Cleveland State, Dayton, Detroit, Eastern Kentucky, Marshall, Morehead State, Northern Kentucky, Oakland, Southern Illinois-Edwardsville, Tennessee Tech, Wright State and Youngstown State.
"We've got a very good, solid field," UC head coach Doug Martin said. "We've got a lot of good teams coming here to play that should make for a competitive event. We are excited to be hosting."
The Bearcats are coming off the program's first tournament victory since 2008, winning the Cleveland State Invitational, Oct. 1. UC carded a 29-under par 281-275-279=835 to claim the team title by 28 strokes over tournament host Cleveland State.
UC junior Jared Howard (Dublin, Ohio/Jerome High School) registered his best career finish at the collegiate level, taking second place at 9-under 69-68-70=207. He fell one stroke shy of Loyola-Chicago's Nick Dennis, who won medalist honors at 10-under 71-66-69=206.
All five Bearcats finished in the Top 25 of the individual standings.
"I think putting our win behind us and focusing on this tournament is something the kids have done a good job with the whole week," Martin said. "We've had a really good week of preparation. I like their attitude. They realize that, yes we won the last tournament, but there will be a new winner this week and we want to play well at our home event."
UC has played well in every tournament this fall season, finishing among the Top 5 teams in each of its three events.
Howard leads the squad with a 70.4 stroke average this season, posting seven rounds below par.
Junior Baxter Reeves (Montgomery, Ala./Brewbaker Tech/Central Alabama CC) is second with a 70.5 stroke average. He owns six rounds of below-par play this year. He finished fourth at the Cleveland State Invitational following a career-best 7-under 69-71-69=209.
There is no live scoring for the Bearcat Invitational.