Cougars Open Spring Amongst Competitive Field at Puerto Rico Classic

Sunday, February 16

Wyndum Rio Mar Golf Club - Rio Grande, Puerto Rico

College of Charleston

Puerto Rico Classic

Cougars Open Spring Amongst Competitive Field at Puerto Rico Classic

2/15/2020 5:30:00 PM | Men's Golf

First Round Tee Times

Click Here For Live Tournament Scoring

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The College of Charleston men's golf team will open its spring season at the 28th Annual Puerto Rico Classic hosted by Purdue on Feb. 16-18 at the Wyndham Grand Rio Mar Golf & Beach Resort's par-72 River Course in Rio Grande, Puerto Rico.

The 18-hole course, designed by PGA TOUR great Greg Norman, will play at a distance of 6,902 yards. This marks the program's first tournament appearance in the Puerto Rico Classic.

The competitive tournament field features 10 of the Top 60-ranked teams in the country including No. 1 Oklahoma, No. 3 Georgia Tech, No. 19 Georgia, No. 24 Clemson, No. 28 Tennessee, No. 35 Ole Miss, No. 52 Purdue, No. 53 Alabama, No. 56 NC State and No. 58 Ohio State.

This weekend's starting lineup consists of three seniors – Logan Sowell (Kershaw, S.C.), Michael Sass (Louisville, Ky.) and Hunter Dunagan (Augusta, Ga.). Junior Raphael Geissler (Karlsruhe, Germany) and freshman newcomer Jye Pickin (Charlestown, Australia) round out the Cougars' starting five to open the spring. Senior Christian Baliker (Greenville, S.C.) will play as an individual.

Pickin will make his collegiate debut this weekend in Puerto Rico. The 2018 NSW State Junior Champion has represented his home country of Australia three times in 2016, 2018 and 2019. His juniors career included his lowest career round of 9-under par 63 at the Charlestown Golf Club in New South Wales.

"Starting the spring out on the beaches of Puerto Rico is as enjoyable, as it is exciting," said CofC Head Coach Mitch Krywulycz, who was previously an assistant coach at Purdue from 2016-18. "The field contains the No. 1 and No. 3-ranked teams in the country and it's a tremendous opportunity for us to test our program in our championship season. We are adding a freshman to our lineup, Jye Pickin. I know he is excited to represent the Cougars for the first time and has been a great ambassador for our team in his short time at The College."

The 54-hole event begins on Sunday with a shotgun start at 8 a.m. (ET) with and will conclude on Tuesday.

CofC will be paired with Alabama and host Purdue in the first round. Live tournament scoring will be available at: www.Golfstat.com