March 26, 2008

KENNESAW, Ga. - The Kennesaw State golf program, in partnership with the Gwinnett Sports Commission, will host the inaugural Larry Nelson Collegiate Invitational golf tournament at Chateau Elan in Braselton, Ga. from March 31st - April 1st, 2008. The two-day event will feature a total of 24 men's and women's teams from a multitude of conferences including in the Big East, the Ohio Valley, and the Owls own Atlantic Sun.

"We are excited to be hosting such a quality event," said Kennesaw State head women's golf coach Rhyll Brinsmead on the depth of the field. "It has been encouraging to see such a high level of support from the teams involved and the KSU community. Especially for a first-time event such as this."

The men's field will consist of 14 total teams representing six athletic conferences. The A-Sun has the most teams in the field with seven, as Belmont, Campbell, Gardner-Webb, Jacksonville, Lipscomb, and Mercer join the Owls in the field.

DePaul will represent the Big East, Wyoming the Mountain West, Binghamton the America East, and Central Arkansas and Nicholls State the Southland. The Owls former Peach Belt rival, Armstrong Atlantic, and independent South Dakota State will round out the men's field.

Kennesaw State is the highest ranked team in the field, coming in at No. 101 in golfstat.com's latest poll. The Owls have posted three top five finishes in four events this spring, and finished ahead of No. 36 Mississippi State and No. 40 Michigan at Mercer's Linger Longer Invitational earlier this month.

"We are really looking forward to hosting such an array of teams from all over the country," added Kennesaw State men's golf coach Blake Smart. "After being so close on a number of occasions this spring, it would be nice to earn our first win in our own tournament."

The women's field will be made up of 17 teams from a total of seven conferences, with the A-Sun and the Sun Belt leading the way with four teams each. Belmont, Gardner-Webb, Mercer and KSU will represent the A-Sun while Louisiana-Monroe, South Alabama, Troy and Western Kentucky will travel from the Sun Belt.

Austin Peay, Tennessee State and Samford will join the field from the Ohio Valley Conference while Central Arkansas and Nicholls State will represent the Southland. Chattanooga and Wofford will make the trip to the Peach State from the Southern Conference,and South Dakota State will also send it's women's team.

Three-time Junior College National Champion, Daytona Beach Community College, will complete the deep women's field.

Chattanooga, who won two fall tournaments, leads the women's field in ranking after receiving a No. 64 rating in GolfStat's most recent poll. USA and Central Arkansas sit just outside of the top 100, coming in at 103rd and 106th respectively in the latest rankings.

The tournament will get under way with an 8 a.m. shotgun start on Monday, March 31st with the men playing the Woodlands Course and the women competing on the Chateau Course. The teams will play 36-holes on Monday and 18 in Tuesday's final round.

Directions and other information on the event can be found by visiting the tournament's website at www.kennesaw.edu/larrynelson. Live stats will also be available for both the men's and the women's fields on golftsat.com by clicking on the Larry Nelson Collegiate Invitational link on the homepage.