March 23, 2008

Men's Golf Returns to Action at Bellarmine Invitational

LOUISVILLE, KY. - The University of Missouri-St. Louis men's golf team returns to action Monday and Tuesday (March 24-25) at the Bellarmine University Invitational hosted at one of Kentucky's most difficult golf courses, the Persimmon Ridge Golf Club.

The 7,113-yard Persimmon Ridge Golf Club layout hosted the 2007 Trans National Amateur Championship in addition to earning the No. 2 ranked golf course distinction by Golf Digest Magazine.
The Tritons are familiar with Persimmon Ridge having competed in this event the past three seasons, including a fifth place finish in 2007. However, junior Matt Thomas and sophomore Tim Swoboda are the only two players out of the six UMSL golfers competing to have played the course.

"The golf course is tight off the tee and requires discipline on the greens", said Swoboda.

The poor weather that has plagued the Midwest has also hit the Louisville area, making it difficult for golf course superintendents in the region to perform their regular spring maintenance. The greens at Persimmon Ridge were aerated as recent as last Monday, making it even more difficult on the players to make putts.

"The conditions will be the same for everyone and we know what to expect. In our preparation for this tournament we played a few courses that were aerated their greens so we'll be prepared,” said Thomas.

UMSL is on spring break this week and the Tritons plan to take full advantage of the break. The team will compete in a Conference Championship Preview at Otter Creek Golf Course in Columbus, Ind., later this week (March 29-30). The team will stay in Louisville Wednesday and Thursday and play several of the top courses in the state of Kentucky during their break before heading to Indiana.

"Rather than spend an extra nine or ten hours on the road going back and forth, we'll stay in Kentucky and hopefully get a little better weather to continue our preparation for the conference season,” said head coach Dustin Ashby. “It's been a rough winter and early spring for golf in St. Louis, so we're anxious to see better golfing conditions.”


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