United Athletic Conference

With four schools having already competed in their first tournaments and the other four teeing off this week, the 2019-20 men's golf season is underway. Defending champion Kansas City opens its season this wekend at the Golfweek Conference Challenge in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Grand Canyon also opens its schedule in the next week, traveling to Fort Collins, Colo. for the Ram Masters Invitational, where they will also be joined by Utah Valley. Seattle U remains in town for the UW Husky Invitational while UT Rio Grande Valley heads to Connecticut for the Hartford Invitational. Finally, NM State makes the trip to San Antonio for the Lone Star Invitational.

 

With just one week of play, Utah Valley's Jake Bryson leads all individualls with a 72.7 stroke average. NM State's Niall Powell is second at 73.3, followed by teammate Aidan Thomas (74.3). As a team, NM State holds the low stroke average a 297.7, followed by California Baptist (303.0), Utah Valley (305.7) and Chicago State (307.0).

 

The 2020 WAC Men's Golf Championship heads back to Arizona as Ak-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Club will play host to the tournament on May 1-3, 2020. The championship Australian Sand Belt-style golf course sits on 320 acres of land that was once a part of Ak-Chin's original May 1912 reservation before it was removed by Presidential Executive Order in late 1912. Nearly 100 years later, in 2010, the Community recovered its sacred land when it purchased the Brian Curley and Fred Couples designed facility after it was originally developed as a private club. The course currently boasts several coveted accolades that include Golfweek's list of the "Top 100 Resort Courses," "Best Courses You Can Play," and "Top Casino Courses," as well as Golf Magazine's list of "Top 100 Courses You Can Play."