September 11, 2014
Hokies open season at Olympia Fields
Top field awaits at historic venue

Blacksburg, va. – Anchored by a line-up that boasts four returning starters from the team’s trip to the 2014 NCAA Championship tournament, the Virginia Tech men’s golf team will open the 2014-15 season in the Olympia Fields Country Club/Fighting Illini Invitational, to be played September 12-14 at the historic Oympia Fields Country Club in Olympia Fields, Illinois.

The event, hosted by the University of Illinois, is played at Olympia Fields Country Club in suburban Chicago, a club that has hosted two U.S. Opens and two PGA Championships, most recently the 2003 U.S. Open, when Jim Furyk won the championhip. The club will host the 2015 U.S. Amateur.

This year’s tournament field is one of the strongest during the fall season of play. Co-number ones Alabama, the two-time defending national champion and defending tournament champion, and Oklahoma State headline the field that includes five of the top-seven teams in the nation and 10 of the top-25 teams in the preseason GCAA poll. The Hokies, No. 23 in the poll, are joined by No. 4 Texas, No. 6 Illinois, No. 7 Stanford, No. 11 Oklahoma, No. 17 Florida State, No. 19 Texas A&M and No. 21 Arkansas. The remainder of the field includes Baylor, Colorado, Connecticut, Indiana and Michigan.

Scott Vincent will play in the first position for the Hokies. The senior from Harare, Zimbabwe is ranked 17th in the current World Amateur Golf Rankings and is ranked 15th in the initial Golfweek/Sagaran college rankings. Vincent set a new Virginia Tech record with three individual tournament titles last season and was the school’s first-ever first team All-American last season.

Classmate Trevor Cone will play in the second spot for Tech. The senior from Concord, North Carolina won two individual titles last season and is currently ranked 72nd in the world and 28th collegiately. He was a third team All-American a year ago.

Maclain Huge will play in the third position for the Hokies at Olympia Fields. The junior from Lovettesville, Virginia, has played in every event in his first two seasons at Tech and was fourth on the team in scoring average and had five top-20 finishes last season.

A pair of sophomores will play in the fourth and fifth positions for the Hokies. Joey Lane, from Great Falls, Virginia, played in seven events as a freshman, including the ACC Championship, the NCAA Auburn Regional and the NCAA Championship. He is joined by classmate Ryan Mondy from Blacksburg, Virginia. Mondy competed in four events for Tech last season and finished 25th at the VCU Shootout.

The tournament begins with a practice round on Thursday and will see 18 holes of action on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Live scoring is available on http://www.golfstatresults.com/public/index.cfm?tournament_id=6158

The Hokies are aiming for their ninth-consecutive NCAA Regional appearance in 2015. Tech won three tournaments in the 2013-14 season and finished in the top five of all regular season events, plus the ACC Championship and NCAA Auburn Regional.

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