Golf Announces 2011-12 Schedule
8/8/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Aug. 8, 2011
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HOUSTON - The return of the All-American Intercollegiate, combined with 10 other regular-season events highlights the University of Houston golf team's 2011-12 schedule, head coach Jonathan Dismuke announced Monday afternoon.
Played all but one season from 1955 to 1997, the All-American Intercollegiate was a mainstay on the Cougar schedule and developed into one of the nation's premier collegiate tournaments. The event returned in 2006 and was last played in 2009.
The event will cap the Cougars' regular-season schedule and be played at The Woodlands Country Club on the 7,018-yard, par-72 Tournament Course on April 9-10. Houston welcomes a nationally competitive 16-team field to the event, including Arkansas, Baylor, Clemson, Lamar, Louisiana-Lafayette, Minnesota, North Texas, Notre Dame, Rice, SMU, Southeastern Louisiana, Texas A&M, Texas State, Tulsa, and UT Arlington.
"I initially wanted to delay hosting this for a few years, but everywhere I would speak fans would ask about reviving the All-American Intercollegiate," Dismuke said. "This was something that Cougar Golf fans wanted, and it's something I am excited to bring back."
Dismuke and assistant coach Chris Hill wasted little time in assembling a high-caliber field during the tournament's return. Eleven of the teams in the field (Arkansas, Baylor, Clemson, Lamar, North Texas, Notre Dame, SMU, Southeastern Louisiana, Texas A&M, Tulsa and UT Arlington) competed in the 2011 NCAA Regionals with Minnesota and Rice sending individual participants to the NCAA postseason.
AN OVERVIEW
The regular-season slate features 11 tournaments in six states. Dismuke and his team will earn their frequent flyer miles in 2011-12 with the Cougars playing as far north as Minnesota, as far east as Georgia and as far west as California.
In addition to the travel, the Cougars also are scheduled to compete against some of the nation's top collegiate teams.
"I like the diversity of the schedule. We will see many different teams during the course of the year, and our strength of schedule has increased significantly from last year," Dismuke said. "We have enough depth and talent to compete at the national level, and I wanted to put us on a stage to do that."
Boasting one of the nation's youngest teams a year ago, the Cougars rattled off five top-five team finishes and tied for fourth at the Conference USA Championships. It was the program's best showing at the C-USA event since 2003.
The Cougars played most of the season with four true freshmen and a sophomore in his first semester with the program in 2010-11 and return six lettermen from that squad this season.
THE FALL SCHEDULE
The Cougars open the fall season at the Gopher Invitational on Sept. 11-12 in Wayzata, Minn. From there, the team will compete at the Fighting Irish Gridiron Classic on Sept. 26-27 at the Warren Course in South Bend, Ind.
This will be the third straight season that the Cougars have played in Notre Dame's tournament. A year ago, the Cougars tied for fourth.
Houston wraps up its fall season with a pair of tournaments in the state of Texas. The Cougars will be an all-Texas field at the Lone Star Invitational at Briggs Ranch Golf Club in San Antonio on Oct. 16-18.
From there, the team heads to Dallas to play at the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate, hosted by Baylor at Royal Oaks Country Club.
THE SPRING SCHEDULE
After a three-month break from tournament competition, the Cougars make a return trip to San Antonio on Feb. 13-14 when they take part at the UTSA Oak Hills Invitational at Oak Hills Country Club. One week later, the Cougars join the field at the Rice Intercollegiate, at Westwood Golf Club on Feb. 20-21.
The Cougars take a trip east on Interstate 10 to open the month on March 5-6 to tee off at the Louisiana Classics at Oakbourne Country Club. Houston will host its first tournament of the season on March 16-17 when it welcomes a 16-team field to Laredo Country in Laredo, Texas.
That field includes Baylor, Central Arkansas, Eastern Michigan, Iowa State, Kansas, Lamar, Louisiana Tech, Louisiana-Lafayette, Mississippi State, Rice, Southern Miss, Stephen F. Austin, Texas State, UTSA and VCU.
From there, the Cougars will compete at the Insperity Augusta State Invitational at Forest Hills Golf Club in Augusta, Ga., hosted by the two-time defending NCAA national champion Jaguars.
THE POSTSEASON
Following The Woodlands/All-American Intercollegiate , the Cougars will begin their postseason April 22-24 at Texarkana Country Club in Texarkana, Ark. This will be the second straight season that Houston will play in the league's postseason event at that location.
The winner of the C-USA Championships advances to the NCAA Regional, slated for May 17-19 at a site to be determined. The NCAA Championships is slated to tee off May 29-June 3 at Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif.