Oct. 20, 2015
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- The San José State University men's golf team heads to the Lone Star State for the Price's Give 'Em Five Invitational beginning Friday, October 23.
14 schools will participate in a 54-hole stroke play format at the par-72, 7,307-yard Butterfield Trail Golf Course in El Paso, Texas, teeing off at 8 a.m. MT on Friday and Saturday. Sunday will feature an 8:15 a.m. MT shotgun start.
"Butterfield Trail is a beautiful course out in the desert. Its very difficult when the wind gets up, but if the wind is down it's a gettable course. I know our guys like it a lot from the past. It's a great golf course and a good test," said Spartans assistant coach Matt Hovan.
The 14 school field includes: Air Force, Army, George Washington, Idaho, Kansas, Marquette, New Mexico State, San Jose State, St. Mary's, Texas State, UMKC, UTSA, Western New Mexico and host, UTEP.
The Spartans lineup will include, Cody Blick, Taylor Bromley, Matthew Murray, Henrik Sohlberg and Kevin Velo. Scott Munger will be playing as an individual.
Blick, Bromley and Murray have been in the lineup for each of the three tournaments this season. Velo will be making his second start with Sohlberg making his season debut.
Fans can follow the Price's Give 'Em Five Invitational action with live scoring updates provided by Golfstat.com
LAST TIME OUT:
The Spartans last competed on October 12-13 in the Alister MacKenzie Invitational in Fairfax, Calif., finishing 6th out of 16 teams shooting 27-under 825. The 825 team score on the par-71,6,734-yard Meadow Club course is the lowest 54-hole total for the Spartans since atleast 1993-1994. It broke the record set at the BSU Dash Thomas Memorial Invitational during the 2011-2012 season when the team shot 25-under 827.
The lineup featured: Matthew Ashley, Cody Blick, Taylor Bromley, Matthew Murray and Kevin Velo.
Blick took the individual medalist honor, winning the tournament by one stroke, shooting 17-under 196.
BLICK RANKED NUMBER TWO PLAYER IN DIVISION I:
In Golfstat.com's initial rankings of the 2015 season, Cody Blick is ranked the number two player among NCAA men's Division I players behind Stanford's Maverick McNealy.
Blick leads the nation in scoring average with an average score of 67.33 over six rounds. In the first two tournaments of the 2015 fall season, the Spartan senior has finished tied for third at the Golfweek Conference Challenge and won the Alister MacKenzie Invitational in dramatic fashion by making a birdie on the 18th hole to win by one stroke. It was Blick's fifth career victory as a Spartan.
The Danville, Calif. native's 17-under 196 score at the Alister MacKenzie Invitational is the second lowest 54-hole total for a Spartan in relation to par since at least 1993-1994. Blick owns the two lowest 54-hole total along with last season's 18-under 198 that he shot at the Price's Give `Em Five Invitational.
"Cody is putting in the work on and off the golf course and its really starting to come together for him. His putter is working really well. He's really stroking the ball well and hitting the targets out on the course and mentally preparing himself for each tournament. He's ahead of the game in that area," said Hovan.
LAST YEAR AT THE PRICE'S GIVE 'EM FIVE INVITATIONAL:
In last year's tournament, Cody Blick earned co-medalist honors with Missouri-Kansas City's Antoine Rozner with a 54-hole score of 198 (-18).
The Spartans team finished 7th out of 14 teams. Henrik Sohlberg and Taylor Bromley were also part of last year's lineup shooting three-over 219 and six-over 222, respectively.
SOCIAL MEDIA:
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