Golf Opens Fall Season at Gopher Invitational on Sunday
9/9/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Sept. 9, 2011
| Live Scoring | Roster | Schedule
WAYZATA, Minn. - The University of Houston golf team opens its fall season Sunday morning when it competes at the seventh annual Gopher Invitational at Spring Hill Golf Club.
The first and second rounds will be played consecutively, beginning with an 8 a.m., shotgun start Sunday. Tee times for Monday's final round begins at 8:30 a.m. The event is free and open to the public.
"I always look forward to the beginning of the season," said head coach Jonathan Dismuke, who is entering his third season at the helm of the program. "This is always one of the most exciting times of the year. We have a few new faces in the lineup, but this should be a good group."
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The Cougars join 13 teams from 10 conferences on the par 72, 7,020-yard Tom Fazio designed course. Houston will compete against Arkansas, Iowa, Kent State, Liberty, North Texas, Notre Dame, SMU, Charlotte, Penn State, Lamar, Santa Clara, Wisconsin and host Minnesota.
"This is one of the best events of the fall and will be a good test and learning experience for us," Dismuke said. "Spring Hill is a traditional, tree-lined course. There will be rough, so driving the ball is a premium."
This will be the Cougars' first appearance at the Gopher Invitational.
THE LINEUP
The Cougars have been practicing at local golf clubs and working out since the first day of school on Aug. 22 and recently finalized their opening lineup through qualifying rounds. Sophomores Curtis Reed, Wesley McClain and Jesse Droemer will work with newcomers James Ross and Roman Robledo this weekend.
"We had far and away the most competitive qualifier since I have been here. We had some guys step up and play some great rounds," Dismuke said. "We also had some guys play solid that aren't going to be on the road this week. As a program, you are only as good as the people you have to leave at home."
A year ago, Reed led the Cougars with a 73.76 scoring average and tied for fifth at the Conference USA Championships. With that, he earned a place on the All-Tournament Team while helping lead Houston to its best finish at the league's annual postseason event since 2003.
McClain joined Reed and sophomore Bryn Flanagan as the only student-athletes to compete in all 11 tournaments in 2010-11. The Diboll, Texas, native finished third among the Cougars with 11 rounds of par or better and fired back-to-back 69s during the final two rounds of the Desert Shootout.
Droemer was a steady performer for the Cougars in his inaugural season a year ago and tied with Reed for the team lead with 12 rounds of par or better. The Sealy, Texas, native finished with three top-20 finishes.
Ross, a junior from Edinburgh, Scotland, is in his first season with the Cougars after transferring from Michigan State. As a freshman, he was one of only two student-athletes to compete in all 12 tournaments during the 2009-10 campaign. Ross finished second among the Spartans with two top-10 finishes and three top-20 showings as a sophomore in 2010-11.
Robledo joined the Cougars after an award-winning prep career at Harlingen South High. He was a four-time District 31-5A individual champion and was named to the Class 5A All-State First Team as a senior.
Players Mentioned
