University of Houston Athletics
Golf Plays Host to All-American Intercollegiate Starting Monday
2/26/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
Feb. 26, 2006
HOUSTON - The University of Houston golf team will welcome back one of the nation's most stories tournaments this week as it plays host to the All-American Intercollegiate on the Tradition course of Cypresswood Golf Club, starting Monday morning.
The 54-hole tournament begins with the first 36 holes on Monday and wraps up with the final 18 on Tuesday. Monday's morning round is scheduled to begin at 8 a.m. with a shotgun start, while the afternoon session is slated to start around 1 p.m.
The Cougars will welcome some of the nation's top collegiate teams in the field on the 7,220-yard, par-72 course. Arkansas-Little Rock, Colorado, Jacksonville State, Kansas, Louisiana-Lafayette, Louisiana Tech, Memphis, Middle Tennessee, North Texas, Southeastern Louisiana, Texas-Arlington and Wyoming are scheduled to compete at the tournament.
Houston comes into the tournament riding a wave of momentum following the spring-season-opening Club de Golf Santa Anita/North Texas Classic in Guadalajara, Mexico, on Feb. 19-20. The Cougars fired a team score of 287 in the final round to win by three strokes and win their first team title of the 2005-06 season.
Individually, junior Pablo Acuna birdied five of his final six holes to capture medallist honors with a 54-hole score of 6-under-par 210. It was the first individual championship of his collegiate career and helped catapult him to a share of Conference USA Golfer of the Week honors for Feb. 23.
The Guatemala City, Guatemala, native leads the Cougars with a 70.9 scoring average, more than 1.5 strokes better than his closest competitor on the team.
Senior Zach Mowbray finished fourth at the Santa Anita/North Texas Classic after shooting 3-under-pare 213, while junior Ricky Romano placed seventh at 217. Romano is second on the team with a 72.5 scoring average.
This will be the first time since 1997 that the All-American Intercollegiate has been played. However, the tournament boasts of a long and rich history.
Begun in 1955 under legendary head coach Dave Williams, the All-American Intercollegiate was played every season through the 1997 campaign. The Cougars walked away with records of 22 team championships and 21 individual crowns at their own tournament.
Although the tournament was discontinued in 1997, current UH head coach Vince Jarrett made the return of the All-American Intercollegiate one of his highest priorities when he was hired in 2003.
