“We’re just thankful to be playing,” Texas Tech coach Greg Sands said. “You know when you go through a fall like that, you really don’t take it for granted when you get the chance to play. I think we’re excited to get back on the road. We’re excited to go to California. I think overall we’re excited to go play.”
Texas Tech will be represented by Ludvig Aberg, Kyle Hogan, Baard Skogen, Garrett Martin and Markus Braadlie while Carl Didrik Fosaas and JP Roller will be competing as individuals. The Red Raiders are currently at No. 24 in the Golfstat rankings and No. 16 in the latest Division I Bushnell Golfweek Coaches Poll which was posted on Friday. Tech finished at No. 3 in the rankings last season which was cut short due to the pandemic.
“We have a lot of depth and we’re going to need it,” Sands said. “Sandy Scott is going to be out a while with his wrist. You can’t really take a day off or not play well when somebody’s hungry and looking for your spot. Love the depth we have and that it’s going to be competitive all spring. Looking forward to seeing which guys rise up and help out with the loss of Sandy for a while.”
Aberg is No. 10 in the World Amateur Golf Rankings after an individual win last week at the Jones Cup, while Hogan is coming off a fall where he won the Maridoe and earned an exemption into the Houston Open. The Red Raiders finished fourth at The Prestige last season at 9-under-par as a team, led by Braadlie who finished 10th individually at 4-under. Braadlie shot 5-under in his final round to make a charge up the leaderboard.
Along with Tech, The Prestige features a strong field that includes No. 11 Arizona, No. 3 Arizona State, California, Cal Poly, Denver, Iowa State, Marquette, Nevada, North Carolina, Northwestern, Oregon, Oregon State, No. 5 Pepperdine, No. 9 San Diego State, SMU, Stanford, TCU, UC Davis, Southern California and Wyoming. The par-71 course is set up at 7,100 yards for the 21-team event. The University of Texas won the 2020 Prestige but is not in the field this year, while Pepperdine took second and San Diego State third.
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