April 30, 2010
HENDERSON, Nevada - Louisiana Tech head coach Jeff Parks and the Bulldog golf team has taken major strides this season, including earning the program's highest ranking in more than 20 years.
However, the Bulldogs head to Nevada this weekend with one major goal still in front of them - capturing the 49th annual Club Glove Western Athletic Conference men's golf championship title and earning a berth in the NCAA regionals.
"It's definitely a different feel than a normal tournament," Parks said. "Just like any conference championships, there is more on the line. Throughout the year we could have played our way into a regional at-large bid but we didn't. This is our last chance to go to postseason this year.
"There is definitely a little more pressure. The best part of it though is we control ourselves. We can't control what the other teams do, but we can control our own game. Hopefully, we will have the right mindset to go out there and score well and see what happens."
Tech will compete against the eight other league schools for three days at the Rio Secco Golf Club in Henderson, Nevada with New Mexico State serving as the host of the championships. All nine teams will have the advantage of having played the course before as Rio Secco was the site of last year's championships.
The teams will play 18 holes each day as the event runs Monday through Wednesday at the 7,332-yard, par-72 course.
"This is a course where you have to keep it in play off the tee," Parks said. "It's a target course, or an accuracy course. If we keep the ball in play, we will have a great chance to score."
Tech's most impressive showing of the year was its last as the Bulldogs finished fifth in the BancorpSouth Intercollegiate hosted by Ole Miss the first week of April. In that event, Tech defeated seven Top 100 teams.
However, that tournament was almost one month ago as Tech hasn't competed in an event since that early-April showing.
"We're using it as a benefit," Parks said of the layoff. "Our guys are rested. They should be recovered. It's given us a lot of time to prepare for the WAC championships, unlike some teams that played last week. We are coming off good showings, and we want to carry that momentum into this tournament."
In its last three tournaments, Tech has defeated 14 Top 100 ranked teams. It's something that the Bulldogs will have to do again at the WAC Championships if they are to win their first ever league title.
Entering the event, Louisiana Tech is the third highest ranked program in the WAC, trailing only Fresno State and Nevada. Fresno State is ranked 54th in the country, Nevada is ranked 77th and the Bulldogs are ranked 99th.
All three teams will be paired up for Monday's first round, something Parks said would be beneficial.
"It is a good thing," Parks said. "We have worked hard this year to move up in the rankings, and it has allowed us to be in the final pairings on the first day of the WAC championships. In my opinion that's a benefit. It will allow us the opportunity to know who we are up against. I think the other teams will be surprised at how well our guys can play."
Parks team will consist of senior Matthew Harvey, junior Clinton Shepard, sophomores Jonathan Bale and Cody Santone and freshman Hayden Stephens - the same lineup he used over the final three events of the spring. Harvey, Bale and Santone all played in last year's WAC championships.
New Mexico State is the two-time defending champion after winning last year at Rio Secco by just one stroke over Fresno State. The California-Bulldogs lead the WAC in scoring average with 287.9 strokes per round with Nevada in second (289.1).
Last year's individual champion, Travis Reid of New Mexico State, graduated, but Fresno State's Grant Doverspike who won in 2007 and was last year's runner-up returns for his final chance to claim a second title. Doverspike's teammate, Bhavik Patel, leads the WAC in scoring with a 71.38 stroke average.
Fans can follow all of the action of the 2010 WAC Championships through live scoring by logging onto www.golfstat.com.
