University of Tennessee Athletics
Vols Head South for Fall Finale
October 26, 2011 | Men's Golf
Oct. 26, 2011
BY JOHN PAINTER
UTSports.com
Tennessee takes its game south of the border this week in hopes of snapping a two-tournament slump and ending the fall portion of the 2011-12 schedule on a positive note.
The Vols open play Thursday at the Cabo Collegiate in San Jose del Cabo, Mexico. Santa Clara is the host school for the 12-team field playing 54 holes over three days at Club Compestre Golf Course (Par 71, 6,966 yards) along the Pacific Ocean.
"The team's looking for a good, solid performance," senior Darren Renwick said. "We want to finish the fall on a positive note and be there in contention with a chance to win."
This week's event is the last of Tennessee's four fall tournaments.
UT opened September with a second-place showing at the Carpet Capital Collegiate in Georgia. But then the Vols were seventh at the Rod Myers Invitational in North Carolina and 10th at the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate just up the road in Jonesborough.
Head coach Jim Kelson says his guys are ready for a turnaround.
"We're looking to play really well and finish up strong," he said. "We've gone two tournaments now where we have not played very well. That's been pretty disappointing.
"I know our players are ready to go compete, play well and finish this fall strong."
Arkansas, ranked eighth nationally by Golfstat.com and ninth in the Golfweek/Sagarin Ratings, is the highest ranked team and only other SEC squad entered. Joining Santa Clara, the Vols and Razorbacks are Arkansas-Little Rock, UC Irvine, Cincinnati, Gonzaga, Lamar, Loyola Marymount, St. Mary's, San Francisco and Southeastern Louisiana.
Tennessee enters this week ranked 50th by Golfstat.com and 44th by Golfweek/Sagarin.
"We've been working hard, especially on our putting," Porteous said. "There are going to be Bermuda greens down there, so we've been working a lot on our Bermuda green on the range. We're just trying to work harder than we did before the Bank of Tennessee."
The Nicklaus designed Club Campestre Golf Course opened in 2007 is spread across the foothills of the Sierra del la Laguna and the Pacific Ocean.
"It will be a fabulous place, and this is one of the things we try to do to reward our players for their efforts," Kelson said of the Baja California peninsula resort. "We try to take them to a nice spot every couple of years and, obviously, Cabo San Lucas is one of the nicest places in the world from what I understand."
Still, Kelson expects the team to take advantage of its last tournament chance until Valentine's Day.
"They are going to have an opportunity to spend a couple of hours on a pretty nice beach and I know it's going to be a first-class run tournament," he said. "We're really looking forward to having an enjoyable week and a productive week.
"But it's definitely a business trip."
Play begins Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8:30 a.m. Mountain time (10:30 a.m. Eastern). Highs in the Cabo San Lucas area are expected to reach the mid-80s each day under sunny skies.
Results are available via Golfstat.com.
