March 25, 2008

LUBBOCK, Texas - Play gets underway Wednesday morning at the Western Intercollegiate for the No. 23 Texas Tech Red Raiders and 15 other squads at the Pasatiempo Golf Course in Santa Cruz, Calif. The tournament format consists of 36 holes Wednesday and a final-round 18 Thursday.

The Red Raiders enter the event as the top-ranked team in the field and also hold the distinction of leading the field with three tournament wins this season - Shoal Creek Intercollegiate, Oklahoma Intercollegiate and Herb Wimberley Intercollegiate. Top-ranked Alabama has five wins, while Charlotte and Mississippi have four each.

Tech's Will Griffin is the nation's 93rd-ranked golfer, while Michigan State's Ryan Brehm enters the event ranked No. 27. Other Red Raiders ranked among the top 250 include Garrett Merrell (159), Santiago Rivas (178) and Sergio Franky (231), all of whom are competing in California this week. Matt Smith also will compete with the Red Raiders this week.

Griffin leads the team with a 72.04 stroke average, while Rivas follows at 72.58. Merrell, who has paced the Red Raiders with his play during the spring, has a 72.81 average in seven tournaments this season, but has averaged 71.44 strokes in three spring events. Merrell also has two top 10 finishes, including a runner-up showing at the UTSA Invitational. Franky averages 72.83 and Smith 74.78.

Other teams competing in the event include California (64), Colorado (69), Columbia (205), Fresno State (90), Hawaii (176), Long Beach State (137), Michigan State (25), Missouri (113), Nevada (95), Northwestern (60), tournament host San Jose State (125), Santa Clara (98), Saint Mary's (50), UC Irvine (63) and UC Santa Barbara (86).

Live scoring will be available at www.golfstat.com throughout the tournament.