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The Loop

This Week's Syllabus: Sept. 9-15

September 09, 2010

__The Fab Five

MEN

__The Jaguars are defending NCAA champions with all five starters back from a year ago. Hard for me not to put them No. 1 for now. Biggest question will be whether the distractions from winning the title carry over into the first month of the season.

Fall opener: Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational, Olympia Fields CC, Olympia Fields, Ill., Sept. 17-19

__The trio of Peter Uihlein, Morgan Hoffmann and Kevin Tway will bring chills to squads trying to knock off the Cowboys all season. Plus everyone other men's team has to have a little queesy feeling in their stomachs knowing the 2011 NCAAs are being played at OSU's home course.

Fall opener: Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational, Olympia Fields CC, Olympia Fields, Ill., Sept. 17-19

__3. Georgia

__On paper the Bulldogs have a threesome of Russell Henley, Hudson Swafford and Harris English that can match up with the best of them, including the OSU trio. On paper, however, UGa should have advanced to nationals last spring too.

Fall opener: Carpet Capital Collegiate, The Farm, Rocky Face, Ga., Sept. 10-12

__4. Stanford

__David Chung's impressive summer would seem to be a great building block for him to take over more of a leadership position for the Cardinal in 2010-11. If he can help inspire more consistency from Sihwan Kim, Stanford will be a tough group to beat.

Fall opener: Olympia Fields/Fighting Illini Invitational, Olympia Fields CC, Olympia Fields, Ill., Sept. 17-19

__5. Oregon

__The Ducks come off their best season in school history and return all five starters including Jack Nicklaus Award winner Eugene Wong. Of course the question lingers in everyone's mind: can they do it again? Says here yes.

Fall opener: Kikkor Golf Husky Invitational, Washington National GC, Auburn, Wash., Sept. 20-21

__WOMEN

__See Augusta State above. NCAA title + all five starters back = No. 1 preseason ranking.

Fall opener: NCAA Fall Preview, Traditions Club, Bryan Texas, Sept. 13-15

__2. USC

__Hard to see a school that loses two first-team All-Americans the likes of Jennifer Song and Belen Mozo and the team not skipping a beat. Yet the Trojans have senior Lizette Salas back as a fantastic leader, sophomore Cyna Rodriguez ready to build off an impressive NCAA performance and four newcomers that all come in with confidence.

Fall opener: NCAA Fall Preview, Traditions Club, Bryan Texas, Sept. 13-15

__3. UCLA

__An already deep team gets even deeper with transfer Lee Lopez eligible and freshman Ani Gulugian arriving in Westwood.

Fall opener: NCAA Fall Preview, Traditions Club, Bryan Texas, Sept. 13-15

__4. Alabama

__Like the Oregon men above, the Crimson Tide women are trying to prove that last year's first-ever SEC title and third-place showing at nationals was no fluke. Also like Oregon, you get a sense that Alabama is ready to roll in 2010-11.

Fall opener: NCAA Fall Preview, Traditions Club, Bryan Texas, Sept. 13-15

__A disappointing finish to the 2009-10 season, when the Demon Deacons failed to advance to the NCAA Championship, will help get Dianne Dailey's group focused for the 2010-11 campaign.

Fall opener: NCAA Fall Preview, Traditions Club, Bryan Texas, Sept. 13-15

__

Stat of the Week

__6

Number of members of the U.S. Ryder Cup team that have competed as collegians for the U.S. Walker Cup team. Automatic qualifiers for the American squad included Dustin Johnson (2007), Matt Kuchar (1999), Phil Mickelson (1989, 1991), Jeff Overton (2005). Captain Corey Pavin then selected Tiger Woods (1995) and Rickie Fowler (2007, 2009).

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Random Thought of the Week

__Rickie Fowler would be a senior at Oklahoma State right now had he not turned pro last fall. Kind of scary to think of him in the lineup with Uihlein, Hoffmann and Tway, huh?

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What to Watch For

__* The women's side doesn't waste any time in having a top-level event kick off the 2010-11 season with the NCAA Fall Preview set for Texas A&M's Traditions Club. Trying to actually predict the outcome is a bit tough with little to gauge just how competitive the schools in the field are at this point in time. More important perhaps than the final outcome of the event will be just how much local knowledge teams and players can pick up during their time at the course. It's a long way until NCAAs, but what is learned next week could come in handy come next May.

__Tournament Previews

MEN

Topy Cup

__Tanagura CC, Japan

Sept. 9-11

Host: Pacific

Field: Arizona, Arizona State, Fresno State, Texas A&M

Defending champion: Washington (eight-under 856) by four strokes over Tohoku Fukushi University;  Tohoku Fukushi's Yoshinori Fujimoto (eight-under 208) by one stroke over Washington's Richard Lee

Skinny: Tohoku Fukushi University had won the event four straight years before being knocked off in 2009. Arizona State finished second to the Japanese school in 2006.

__Purdue Midwest Shootout

__Kampen Course, West Lafayette, Ind.

Sept. 11

Host: Purdue

Field: Chicago State, IUP-Fort Wayne, Loyola (Ill.), Miami (Ohio), Purdue

Defending champion: New event

Skinny: The host Boilermakers already have a win under their belts, claiming the Turning Stone Tiger Intercollegiate title last Monday, and making them the obvious favorite in this one-day, 36-hole event.

__Carpet Capital Collegiate

__   (For live scoring, click here to link to Golfstat)

The Farm, Rocky Face, Ga.

Sept. 10-12

Host: Georgia Tech

Field: Alabama, Auburn, Chattanooga, Clemson, East Tennessee State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas Tech, Wake Forest

Defending champion: Tennessee (13-under 851) by 12 strokes over Chattanooga; Tennessee's Darren Renwick and Texas Tech's Nils Floren (six-under 210)

Skinny: This is the 22nd year of the tournament, one that features two of the Elite Eight teams at last year's NCAA Championship (Georgia Tech, Texas Tech).

__Wolf Run Intercollegiate

__Wolf Run GC, Zionville, Ind.

Sept. 11-12

Host: Indiana

__Field:__Ball State, UCF, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa State, IUPUI, Kansas State, Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan, Missouri, North Florida, Northwestern, Penn State, Tulsa

Defending champion: Illinois (five-under 847) by 13 strokes over North Florida; North Florida's Sean Dale (11-under 202) by one stroke over Illinois' Scott Langley

Skinny: Illinois is going for its 17th tournament title since April 2008.

__

The Fossum Invitational

__   (For live scoring, click here to link to Golfstat)

Forest Akers GC, East Lansing, Mich.

Sept. 11-12

Host: Michigan State

Field: Alabama State, Bradley, Canisius, Dayton, Detroit Mercy, Evansville, Houston Baptist, Iona, Jackson State, James Madison, Michigan State, St. Francis (Pa.), Waterloo, Valparaiso, Youngstown State

Defending champion: Michigan State and Ferris State (15-over 879); USC-Upstate's Josh Gallman (six-under 210) by four strokes over Michigan State's Jack Newman

Skinny: The host Spartans are the lone Big Ten school in the field in an event that moves from the spring. Thirty-seven times in the event's 44-year history a Big Ten school has either won or shared the title. The last time it didn't happen was Toledo in 2002.

__The Gopher Invitational

__   (For live scoring, click here to link to Golfstat)

Spring Hill GC, Wazata, Minn.

Sept. 12-13

Host: Minnesota

Field: Arkansas, Charlotte, Iowa, Kent State, Lamar, LSU, Marquette, Minnesota, UNC Greensboro, SMU, Wisconsin

Defending champion: SMU (nine-under 855) by 10 strokes over Arkansas; SMU's Kelly Kraft (15-under 201) by eight strokes over Minnesota's Ben Pisani

Skinny: John Harris makes his coaching debut for the Golden Gophers.

__The Invitational at The Ocean Course

__   (For live scoring, click here to link to Golfstat)

Ocean Course at Kiawah, Kiawah Island, S.C.

Sept. 13-14

Host: College of Charleston

Field: UAB, College of Charleston, Coastal Carolina, Davidson, Maryland, Mercer, N.C. State, Notre Dame, St. Mary's (Calif.), Texas State, Vanderbilt, Western Carolina

Defending champion: New event

Skinny: Several schools start the 2010-11 season on a championship course.

__WOMEN

Topy Cup

__Tanagura CC, Japan

Sept. 9-11

Host: Pacific

Field: Arizona, UC Davis

Defending champion: Arizona State (six-under 858) by 26 strokes over Wake Forest; Arizona State's Jaclyn Sweeney (five-under 211) by one stroke over Arizona State's Juliana Murcia

Skinny: Big question is whether Wildcats can recapture the confidence they had at the end of last season.

__Wolverine Invitational

__   (For live scoring, click here to link to Golfstat)

University of Michigan GC, Ann Arbor, Mich.

Sept. 11-12

Host: Michigan

Field: Augusta State, Ball State, Campbell, Columbia, Eastern Michigan, Florida International, Indiana, Iowa State, Kennesaw State, Longwood, Michigan, Missouri-Kansas City, Northwestern, SMU, Toledo, Western Michigan, Xavier

Defending champion (2008 event): Michigan (nine-over 293) by 11 strokes over Minnesota; Michigan's Ashley Bauer (three-under 68) by three strokes over Minnesota's Kelli Berns

Skinny: Tournament resumes after a one-year hiatus. It's the 24th time the school has hosted an event on the UM course.

__

Cougar Classic

__   (For live scoring, click here to link to Golfstat)

Yeamans Hall Club, Charleston, S.C.

Sept. 12-14

Host: College of Charleston

Field: UCF, Charleston Southern, College of Charleston, Florida, Florida State, Furman, Kentucky, Maryland, Miami (Fla.), Minnesota, Mississippi, Mississippi State, North Carolina, UNC Greensboro, N.C. State, Oklahoma, Penn State, Richmond, South Carolina, South Florida, Wisconsin

Defending champion: Georgia (14-under 850) by seven strokes over Florida State; Georgia's Marta Silva Zamora (eight-under 208) by one stroke over Florida State's Lacey Agnew

Skinny: Tournament has become a popular season opener for several southeast schools.

__Chip-N Club Invitational

__Wilderness Ridge GC, Lincoln, Neb.

Sept. 13-14

Host: Nebraska

Field: Akron, Arkansas State, Central Arkansas, Creighton, Iowa, James Madison, Kansas, Kansas State, Missouti, Nebraska, North Dakota State, Sacramento State, South Dakota State, Texas State, Texas-San Antonio

Defending champion: Missouri (14-over 878) by 11 strokes over Nebraska; North Dakota State's Amy Anderson (six-under 210) by three strokes over Kansas' Emily Powers

Skinny: The host Huskers have won the tournament title six of the last eight years.

__Ptarmigan Ram Fall Classic

__   (For live scoring, click here to link to Golfstat)

Ptarmigan CC, Fort Collins, Colo.

Sept. 13-14

Host: Colorado State

Field: Baylor, California, Colorado, Colorado State, Fresno State, Idaho, Illinois, Long Beach State, Louisville, New Mexico State, Northern Colorado, Oregon, San Jose State, UTEP, Texas Tech, Wyoming

Defending champion: Idaho (five-under 859) by four strokes over Colorado State; Louisville's Laura Anderson (10-under 206) by three strokes over New Mexico's Jodi Ewart

Skinny: It's been nine seasons since the last time a Colorado State golfer took medalist honors in the school's home event: Mayumi Motoyama, 2001.

__NCAA Fall Preview

__   (For live scoring, click here to link to Golfstat)

Traditions Club, Bryan, Texas

Sept. 13-15

Host: Texas A&M

Field: Alabama, Arizona State, Auburn, Duke, Georgia, LSU, Michigan State, Pepperdine, Purdue, Stanford, Tennessee, Texas, Texas A&M, Tulane, UCLA, USC, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Wake Forest

Defending champion: Duke (17-over 881) by one stroke over Auburn and UCLA; Auburn's Cydney Clanton (six-under 210) by five strokes over Virginia's Brittany Altomare

Skinny: Every golfer in the top 10 of Golf World's 50 Players to Watch will be in the field to check out the host course for the 2011 NCAA Championship.