Wednesday, October 26, 2005

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Oct. 26, 2005) - The nation's elite collegiate golfers are headed to El Paso again in November to compete in the 31st Annual Western Refining College All-America Golf Classic, scheduled for Nov. 20-22 at the El Paso Country Club. ETSU junior Rhys Davies (Bridgend, Wales) will be among that group.

This year's tournament features seven Golfweek preseason first team All-Americans - Davies (East Tennessee State), Anthony Kim (Oklahoma), Pablo Martin (Oklahoma State), Kyle Reifers (Wake Forest), Chris Kirk (Georgia), Alejandro Cañizares (Arizona State) and Ryan Blaum (Duke). In all, 18 players in the field earned preseason All-America honors.

This year's field includes three members of the 2005 Walker Cup team - Davies (Great Britain & Ireland), Kim (United States) and Reifers (United States). Another four players played in the 2005 Palmer Cup - Blaum (United States), Cañizares (Europe), Davies (Europe), Martin (Europe) and Steven Tiley (Europe).

For the first time since 2002, the field also features the NCAA Division II and III national champion from the previous year. Dane Burkhart, the Division II champion, led South Carolina-Aiken to the national team title in 2005, while Colin Clark of Guilford College led the Quakers to the Division III national title.

            "We really have a strong field this year," said Mark Pelletier, tournament chairman. "Top to bottom, we have 32 of the nation's best players."

In 2005, the Western Refining College All-America Golf Classic ranked as the No. 1 tournament in the country, according to the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index.

            The 2005 field was extended to a record-high 32 golfers due to the 45 eligible All-Americans. Last year, 29 golfers competed for the title, eclipsing the previous high of 27 golfers, who competed in the Golf Classic in 1983 and again in 1997.

            The tournament, hosted by the Sun Bowl Association, is played at the Par-71, 6,781-yard El Paso Country Club.

            Throughout the years, many Western Refining College All-America Golf Classic competitors have gone on to pursue successful careers in the Professional Golfers' Association of America and on the PGA Tour. Some of the past champions include Ricky Barnes (2000), Notah Begay (1994), David Duval (1991), Matt Kuchar (1999), Davis Love III (1984), Chris Nallen (2003), Jerry Pate (1974) and Tiger Woods (1995).

            Alumni of the Golf Classic have gone on to earn more than $790 million on the PGA Tour. In all, 112 colleges and universities have participated in the tournament, raising more than $540,000 in scholarship money for the participating institutions.

Each university is awarded a $1,000 scholarship if a golfer from that school competes in the tournament.