The Oregon men’s golf team scored a major tournament victory Monday without even having to tee off.
The ink is now dry on a deal between Oregon and Northwestern, along with KemperSports, that will create what could possibly become the premiere collegiate golf event in country: the Pacific-10 Conference/Big Ten Challenge.
The most impressive aspect of the tournament is not necessarily the teams that will participate but the venues hosting the new tournament.
Oregon’s own Bandon Dunes Golf Resort — home to the second and third-ranked modern courses in America, according to Golfweek magazine — will begin hosting the tournament in 2004. The Bandon Dunes and Pacific Dunes courses are ranked No. 9 and No. 2 among the “Top 100 Courses You Can Play” in Golf Magazine.
“The impetus behind this event is strictly what an amazing golf facility Bandon Dunes Golf Resort is,” Northwestern head coach Pat Goss said. “The courses are the tournament. This will be the best and most special place college golf is played.”
Currently, the highest-ranked modern course to host a collegiate event is ranked No. 28 — the Double Eagle Club in Galena, Ohio — by Golfweek. In perspective, Pacific Dunes trails behind only the hallowed Pebble Beach Golf Course as best public course in the country.
The event will send six teams from each conference to face off against one another. The four top finishers from each conference’s championship tournament of the previous season will be invited, along with one at-large team from each league, chosen by KemperSports. Northwestern and Oregon will be tournament co-hosts.
“This has the potential to develop into the most exciting and anticipated college golf tournament in the country,” Oregon head coach Steve Nosler said. “We want this to be the most unique and best event in collegiate golf, the type of tournament college players look forward to playing in.”
The 2004 event will take place Oct. 24 to 26 and then will shift to The Glen Club Course in Glenview, Ill., for 2005, after which the tournament will go into a three-year rotation between courses. KemperSports Management of Northbrook, Ill., owns the Glen Club and manages Bandon Dunes Golf Resort.
“Northwestern is fortunate to have a good relationship with KemperSports,” Goss said. “Because they own the Glen Club, we were excited to be able to showcase the event in Chicago, too.”