Golf Opens Fall Season at Fighting Irish Gridiron Classic
9/26/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Sept. 26, 2010
SOUTH BEND, Ind. - The University of Houston golf team opens the 2010 fall season Monday morning when it competes at the fifth annual Fighting Irish Gridiron Classic for the second straight season.
Playing on the 7,023-yard, par-70 Warren Course, the Cougars face a challenging field, including Cincinnati, College of Charleston, Eastern Michigan, Georgetown, Gonzaga, Iowa, Lamar, Miami (Ohio), Missouri, San Francisco, Seton Hall, UT Arlington and host Notre Dame.
Action begins with a 9 a.m., shotgun start Monday with continuous play for round two following the conclusion of round one. The final round will have split-tee starts from hole No. 1 and hole No. 10, beginning at 8:15 a.m., Tuesday with groupings based on the 36-hole standings.
Live hole-by-hole scoring will be available through Golfstat. To access the site, go to GolfStatResults.com.
"The course fits us well. It's a big course with a lot of length," second-year head coach Jonathan Dismuke said. "It's very challenging, but it's going to be a lot of fun. I am anxious to see where we are as a team and were we need to get to."
THE LINEUP
Four Cougars will make their collegiate debut during the season-opening tournament. Freshmen Bryn Flanagan, Jesse Droemer, Wesley McClain and Curtis Reed join senior Matt Eschenburg in the starting lineup, while senior Clark Mitzer will compete as an individual.
In addition, the Cougars welcome new first-year assistant coach Chris Hill to the program this season.
To earn a place in the starting lineup, the Cougars went through a six-round qualifier for all five spots at courses around the Houston area.
"At the beginning of the year, I try to give everyone the opportunity to play and earn their spots. I was very pleased with the results of the qualifying," Dismuke said. "We had a lot guys play solid. We had a lot of great rounds, rounds in the 60s, lots of sub-par rounds on some tough courses."
Eschenburg was one of only two players to compete in all 35 rounds in 2009-10. A native of The Woodlands, Texas, he recorded three top-five finishes, including a fourth-place showing at the Husky Invitational, and was honored as the Conference USA Golfer of the Week in early October 2009.
Mitzner led the Cougars in scoring average and enjoyed four rounds of par or better, including a career-low 68 at Houston's own Redstone Challenge. The McKinney, Texas, native was twice honored as the C-USA Golfer of the Week in February.
Flanagan joined the Cougars after an award-winning prep career in his native South Africa. As an amateur, Flanagan finished fourth at the Northern Amateur Tournament in 2009 and placed second at the South Africa Amateur Stroke Play Championship. He also rose as high as No. 7 in the South Africa National Amateur rankings.
Droemer was the 2007 and 2008 Houston Golf Association Player of the Year. With three birdies on the back nine in the final round, he captured the AJGA Arkansas Junior at Blessings individual title in July and was honored as the Golfweek Player of the Week
A product of Diboll High, McClain was a four-year letterman for head coach Jeff Stifle. He captured the 2009 AJGA Heritage Junior championship with 69s in the first and final rounds and was a two-time District champion. McClain finished third at the 2009 AJGA Stars of Texas Junior and Texas State Junior tournaments and qualified to compete for the Houston teams that faced the Scottish squad in Aberdeen, Scotland during the summer of 2007.
Reed, who ranked No. 5 in the Polo World Golf rankings in the state of Texas for 2010 graduates, joined the Cougars after an award-winning career at Medina Valley High in Castroville, Texas. As a freshman, he helped lead the Panthers to the Class 3A state championship and finished as the Class 3A Regional and State individual champion.
A YEAR AGO
Competing at the Fighting Irish Gridiron Classic for the first time a year ago, the Cougars used a strong final-round showing to move into a tie for sixth place.
Eschenburg birdied two of the final three holes to finish the round at 1-over-par 71 and end the tournament at 216 to tie with three other players for fifth place.
"Matt played great there last year, and I know he is excited to get back there," Dismuke said. "I expect him to have another good event."
Players Mentioned
