University of Delaware Athletics
Blue Hen Men's Golfers Head West To Compete in Prestigious Arizona Intercollegiate
1/24/2015 11:39:00 AM | Men's Golf
TUCSON, Ariz. -- Coming off an outstanding fall season, the University of Delaware men's golf team will compete against some of the top teams in the nation next week when the Blue Hens participate in the Arizona Intercollegiate.
UD is one of 15 teams competing in the tournament, which features five squads ranked among the top 50 according to Golfweek. No. 20 New Mexico, No. 21 California, No. 29 Arizona State, No. 43 Iowa State and No. 48 New Mexico State highlight the field, which also includes Arizona, BYU, Cal State Fullerton, Loyola Marymount, McNeese State, Pacific, Pepperdine, Seattle, UTEP and the Blue Hens.
The tournament will take place at Sewailo Golf Club in Tucson, and will feature 54 holes. The first two rounds will take place on Monday beginning at 8 a.m. Mountain, with Tuesday's final round also beginning at 8 a.m. The invitational will be the westernmost tournament UD has ever appeared in, and will be the team's first ever in the month of January.
The Blue Hens will be led by junior Kyle Martin at the tournament, along with their highly-touted freshman class of Erik Dulik, Jack Gianniny, Blaine Lafferty and Kieran Purcell. Through the fall season GolfStat ranked the UD freshmen as the 19th best class in Division I, as the Blue Hens and No. 16 Princeton were the only two Northeast schools ranked among the top 25.
Gianniny paced Delaware during the fall season with a team-best 73.54 stroke average, including a second place finish at the Binghamton Fall Invitational. Purcell was second on the squad by averaging 73.77 shots per round, as he placed second at the Cornell Invitational.
Martin averaged 74.00 shots per round to rank third on the team, as he posted a pair of top 10 finishes during the fall including third at the season-opening Navy Fall Classic. Dulik posted an average round of 75.08 and was runner-up at the Navy Fall Classic, while Lafferty averaged 75.70 shots per round.
Mike KeoghFollowing the Arizona Intercollegiate, the Blue Hens will be off until competing in the Appalachian State/Cape Fear Intercollegiate in Leland, N.C. on Mar. 15-16.
Players Mentioned
