Bo Hoag Among Nation’s Best Collegiate Golfers Competing at Western Refining College All-America Golf Classic – Ohio State Buckeyes
11/6/2009 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
EL PASO, Texas — The field has been set for the 35th annual Western Refining College All-America Golf Classic and it includes Ohio State junior Bo Hoag, an 2009 Honorable Mention All-America and First Team All-Big Ten selection.
The tournament, which is hosted by the Sun Bowl Association, is slated for Nov. 22-24 at the par-71, 6,837-yard El Paso Country Club.
This year’s tournament also features last season’s NCAA Division I Player of the Year Matt Hill (North Carolina State) and Freshman of the Year Morgan Hoffmann (Oklahoma State), as well as the Division III Player of the Year Mitchell Fedorka (La Verne). Also included in the field are six Golfweek preseason first team All-America selections – Hill, Hoffman, Nick Taylor (Washington), Russell Henley (Georgia), John Peterson (LSU) and Scott Langley (Illinois).
In all, the field includes 32 All-Americans from the previous year, making it the largest field in the 35-year existence of the event. In 2005, 31 players competed in the Western Refining College All-America Golf Classic.
Eight players will represent both the Pac-10 Conference and the Southeastern Conference to lead the way. Other conferences with multiple participants are the Big Ten Conference (four), Big 12 Conference (three), the West Coast Conference (two) and the Mountain West Conference (two).
“We have another strong field,” said Bob Kimble, tournament director. “We could not be more excited, this is a quality collection of the top amateur golfers in the world.”
Last season, the Western Refining College All-America Golf Classic ranked as the No. 1 tournament in the country for the fifth consecutive season, according to the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index.
“Western Refining has done a great deal to take the nation’s No. 1 golf tournament to the next level,” said Bernie Olivas, Sun Bowl Association Executive Director. “We could not put on a tournament of this magnitude without the support of Western Refining. It has become a true event that the nation’s best want to attend.”
Throughout the years, many Western Refining College All-America Golf Classic competitors have gone on to pursue successful careers in the Professional Golfers’ Association of America and on the PGA Tour. Some of the past champions include Ricky Barnes (2000), Notah Begay (1994), David Duval (1991), Matt Kuchar (1999), Davis Love III (1984), Chris Nallen (2003), Jerry Pate (1974), Nicholas Thompson (2004) and Tiger Woods (1995).
Alumni of the Golf Classic have gone on to earn more than $1 billion on the PGA Tour. In all, 133 colleges and universities have participated in the tournament, raising more than $640,000 in scholarship money for the participating institutions.
Each university is awarded a $1,000 scholarship if a golfer from that school competes in the tournament.
Following is a schedule of events (times are MST):
Sunday, Nov. 22
Titleist Long Drive Contest (9 a.m.)
PING Putting Contest (10 a.m.)
College-Am (Practice round) (Noon)
Monday, Nov. 23
First and second rounds, 36 holes (8 a.m.)
Tuesday, Nov. 24
Final round, 18 holes (8 a.m.)
Trophy presentation (following final round, approximately Noon)
2009 Field For The Western Refining College All-America Golf Classic
Player Class Hometown School Knut Borsheim Sr. Bergen, Norway Arizona State George Bryan IV Sr. Chapin, S.C. South Carolina Alex Ching So. Honolulu, Hawaii San Diego HarrisEnglish Jr. Thomasville, Ga. Georgia Mitchell Fedorka Sr. Upland, Calif. La Verne Kevin Foley Jr. Somerville, N.J. Penn State DustinGarza Sr. Mission, Texas WichitaState Matt Giles Jr. Sydney,Australia USC John Hahn Jr. Hudson, Ohio Kent State HunterHamrick So. Montgomery, Ala. Alabama Russell Henley Jr. Macon, Ga. Georgia Matt Hill Jr. Brights Grove, Ontario N.C. State Bo Hoag Jr. Upper Arlington, Ohio Ohio State Morgan Hoffmann So. Wyckoff, N.J. Oklahoma State Tom Hoge Jr. Fargo, N.D. TCU David Holmes Sr. Knoxville, Tenn. Tennessee Lion Kim Jr. Lake Mary, Fla. Michigan Scott Langley Jr. Manchester, Mo. Illinois Richard Lee Sr. Bellevue, Wash. Washington DaveLingmerth Sr. Tranas, Sweden Arkansas Lance Lopez Sr. Missouri City, Texas Texas Gregor Main So. Danville, Calif. UCLA TarquinMacManus Jr. Queensland, Australia Arizona Daniel Miernicki So. Santee, Calif. Oregon Corey Nagy Sr. Charlotte, N.C. Charlotte Eddie Olson Sr. Aptos, Calif. UNLV John Peterson Jr. FortWorth, Texas LSU Scott Pinckney Jr. Anthem, Ariz. Arizona State AndrewPutnam Jr. University Place, Wash. Pepperdine Alexander Sitompul Jr. Jakarta, Indonesia Michigan NickTaylor Sr. Abbotsford, B.C. Washington Kevin Tway Jr. Edmond, Okla. Oklahoma State
Western Refining College All-America Golf Classic Past Champions
1974 Jerry Pate………………………………………. Alabama
1975 Randy Simmons…………………………………… Texas
1976 Scott Simpson………………………………………… USC
1977 Mike Gove ……………………………….. Weber State
1978 Gary Hallberg……………………………. Wake Forest
1979 Tim Norris…………………………………. Fresno State
1980 Jay Don Blake……………………………….. Utah State
1981 Willie Wood…………………………. Oklahoma State
1982 Billy Ray Brown……………………………….. Houston
1983 John Slaughter…………………………………. Houston
1984 Davis Love III………………………….. North Carolina
1985 Sam Randolph……………………………………….. USC
1986 Billy Mayfair…………………………….. Arizona State
1987 No tournament due to pending NCAA legislation
1988 Chris Patton……………………………………. Clemson
1989 Chris Patton……………………………………. Clemson
1990 Geoff Griffin………………………………. Fresno State
1991 David Duval……………………………… Georgia Tech
1992 Robert Damron………………………. Central Florida
1993 Chris Riley…………………………………………… UNLV
1994 Notah Begay……………………………………. Stanford
1995 Tiger Woods……………………………………. Stanford
1996 Chad Wright………………………………………….. USC
1997 Alberto Ochoa……………………………………….. TCU
1998 Jeremy Anderson…………………………………. UNLV
1999 Matt Kuchar…………………………….. Georgia Tech
2000 Ricky Barnes…………………………………….. Arizona
2001 Brad Heaven……………………………………… Toledo
2002 Adam Rubinson……………………………………… TCU
2003 Chris Nallen……………………………………… Arizona
2004 Nicholas Thompson…………………… Georgia Tech
2005 Luke List………………………………………. Vanderbilt
2006 Chris Kirk…………………………………………. Georgia
2007 Webb Simpson…………………………… Wake Forest
2008 Mike Van Sickle……………………………. Marquette
