Final Regular Season Tournament for the Big Red

The University of Nebraska men's golf team, fresh off a solid seventh place team finish at the Stevinson Ranch Invitational in Turlock, Calif., will now pack up and head south to neighboring Kansas to compete at the Diet Pepsi/Shocker Classic in Wichita, Kan. on April 10-11.

The tournament will be played at the Crestview Country Club in Wichita. The course has a par 71 6,783 yard layout. THe teams will play 36 holes on Monday, April 10 starting at 9 a.m., and 18 holes on Tuesday starting at 8:30 a.m.

Freshman Jim Troy captured 12th place individually in California, carding a 148. Troy's 12th place finish was a career best. Also finishing in the top 20 was sophomore Seth Porter who fired a 150, which landed him in 18th place.

The seventh-place finish was the second top-10 team finish of the 1999-2000 season, as the Huskers also captured a top-10 finish at the season's first tournament, the Fairway Club Invitational (sixth place).

Head coach Larry Romjue was pleased with the way that his team shot the ball in California.

"I think we showed great improvement," Romjue said. "This was by far the best tournament we have had all spring. We are going to learn a lot from it. It was a hard course, and the conditions were difficult but we handled it well."

The Huskers have had a week off in preparation for this tournament, and Romjue feels that the time off helped the team.

"We are ready for a rest," Romjue said. "When you travel, it takes a lot out of you, and our guys just needed a break. I think we are going to get some good practice in this week and head to Wichita rested and ready to play."

Nebraska last captured the Diet Pepsi/Shocker Classic title in 1996, and finished fourth last season behind Jamie Rogers' fifth-place finish.

For the Huskers, this will be the final tune-up before heading to the Big 12 Championships which will be held April 24-25 in Hutchinson, Kan.