Coastal89
December 7th, 2005, 02:47 PM
Coastal Carolina's first defense of the General Jim Hackler Invitational at the TPC of Myrtle Beach in March won't be easy.
Chanticleers coach Allen Terrell has secured eight teams in the Golfweek Magazine Sagarin Rankings' top 50, and 13 of the fifth annual event's 15 teams are in the top 80 among 285 programs ranked in the country. There were six top-50 teams at last year's 12-team Hackler Invitational.
"In college golf today, if you're in the top 100 you're pretty good," Terrell said. "We'll have to play well again. It's always one of our kids' goals to win that tournament."
The top teams include No. 18 East Tennessee State, No. 25 Pepperdine, No. 33 Texas Tech, No. 35 Illinois, No. 36 Michigan State and No. 50 Florida State. The Chants, who did not finish higher than fourth in the first three Hackler tournaments, are ranked 24th, and 2004 Hackler runner-up Notre Dame is 47th.
In addition to Coastal junior Dustin Johnson, the reigning NCAA East Regional champion who already has won twice this fall, the tournament also will feature defending Hackler medalist and 2005 Walker Cup participant Rhys Davies of ETSU.
Teams in the tournament will be representing 10 conferences - the Atlantic Coast, Southeastern, Big South, West Coast, Big East, Big 10, Big 12, Atlantic Sun, Colonial and Mid-American.
"We achieved the goal of having teams from all over the country and a lot of different conferences coming to Myrtle Beach," Terrell said.
Terrell said specific teams are invited to the event so the Chants can receive reciprocal invitations to their tournaments, many of which have strong fields.
He created the tournament in 2001 in part to help strengthen his team's schedule, and it has improved from a ranking of 185th in the country in 2000 to one of the 20 toughest in the nation.
"It's paying dividends for our program, and that's the most important thing," Terrell said. "This tournament's going to enable us to keep our strength of schedule in the top 30, and that's one of our main goals."
http://goccusports.com/chantspics/feature/hacklertournamentbanner.jpg
http://www.goccusports.com/?tournament=7
Chanticleers coach Allen Terrell has secured eight teams in the Golfweek Magazine Sagarin Rankings' top 50, and 13 of the fifth annual event's 15 teams are in the top 80 among 285 programs ranked in the country. There were six top-50 teams at last year's 12-team Hackler Invitational.
"In college golf today, if you're in the top 100 you're pretty good," Terrell said. "We'll have to play well again. It's always one of our kids' goals to win that tournament."
The top teams include No. 18 East Tennessee State, No. 25 Pepperdine, No. 33 Texas Tech, No. 35 Illinois, No. 36 Michigan State and No. 50 Florida State. The Chants, who did not finish higher than fourth in the first three Hackler tournaments, are ranked 24th, and 2004 Hackler runner-up Notre Dame is 47th.
In addition to Coastal junior Dustin Johnson, the reigning NCAA East Regional champion who already has won twice this fall, the tournament also will feature defending Hackler medalist and 2005 Walker Cup participant Rhys Davies of ETSU.
Teams in the tournament will be representing 10 conferences - the Atlantic Coast, Southeastern, Big South, West Coast, Big East, Big 10, Big 12, Atlantic Sun, Colonial and Mid-American.
"We achieved the goal of having teams from all over the country and a lot of different conferences coming to Myrtle Beach," Terrell said.
Terrell said specific teams are invited to the event so the Chants can receive reciprocal invitations to their tournaments, many of which have strong fields.
He created the tournament in 2001 in part to help strengthen his team's schedule, and it has improved from a ranking of 185th in the country in 2000 to one of the 20 toughest in the nation.
"It's paying dividends for our program, and that's the most important thing," Terrell said. "This tournament's going to enable us to keep our strength of schedule in the top 30, and that's one of our main goals."
http://goccusports.com/chantspics/feature/hacklertournamentbanner.jpg
http://www.goccusports.com/?tournament=7