University of Tennessee Athletics
Vols Set to Open 2003-04 Season
September 11, 2003 | Men's Golf
Sept. 11, 2003
The 25th-ranked Tennessee men's golf team opens the 2003-04 season, Sept. 13-14, at the Bank of Tennessee/Ridges Intercollegiate. The tournament is being played at The Ridges Golf Club in Jonesborough, Tenn.
The tournament features a solid field with 12 of the 18 teams being ranked in the preseason Golfweek Top 25. Leading the way is top-ranked and defending national champion Clemson. Also competing is No. 3 Florida, No. 5 Georgia, No. 10 Georgia Tech, No. 12 Texas Christian, No. 13 North Carolina, No. 16 Southern California, No. 19 Wake Forest, No. 21 Auburn, No. 22 and host ETSU, No. 23 South Carolina and No. 25 Tennessee.
Other teams competing include Alabama, Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma, Tulsa and Virginia Tech.
"The field for this tournament is always outstanding, and it is no different this year," head coach Jim Kelson said. "This is probably the strongest field in the history of the tournament."
Kelson has assembled a lineup that includes four juniors and a freshman. Leading the way at the No. 1 position is junior Ross McGowan. McGowan is coming off a solid sophomore campaign that saw him compete in 13 tournaments and finish with a scoring average of 74.34.
Competing in the second position is John Scott Rattan. Rattan finished last season with a scoring average of 74.42. Spots three and four are composed of two new Vols, freshman Tino Weiss and junior college transfer Ricky Honeycutt. Junior Brandon Skeen anchors the final spot for the Vols. Skeen ended last season with a scoring average of 75.85.
Freshman Ross Cox is set to make his first appearance for Tennessee, as he will be competing as an individual.
Tennessee will be without the services of its two-time All America David Skinns. Skinns is representing his home country of England in the Home Internationals golf tournament in Ballybunion, Ireland.
"This tournament is going to provide us with the opportunity to see a couple of new faces," Kelson said. "Brandon [Skeen] and Ricky [Honeycutt] have played well in qualifying, while this will be Ricky and Tino's first Division I tournament. We look forward to having them in the line up."
The tournament is a 54-hole format, with 36 holes being played on Saturday and the final 18 on Sunday. A link to live scoring is available at www.UTsports.com.
"The Ridges is one of our favorite events," Kelson said. "There is a lot of support in that community for our golf program. We have had some success in this tournament in the past and hopefully we can continue it this weekend."
Players Mentioned
