Nov. 21, 2010
El Paso, Texas – Georgia Tech seniors John-Tyler Griffin and Paul Haley join a field that includes the U.S. Amateur champion, the NCAA champion and the returning event champion for the 2010 Western Refining College All-America Golf Classic, which begins Monday at El Paso Country Club.
Thirty-two of the nation’s premier collegiate golfers are in El Paso for the 36th edition of the tournament that features returning champion Hunter Hamrick of Alabama, 2010 U.S. Amateur Champion Peter Uihlein (Oklahoma State) and 2010 NCAA Champion Scott Langley (Illinois). The first 36 holes will be played Monday, followed by the final 18-hole round Tuesday.
“This is an extraordinary field of collegiate golfers,” said Gary Hanson, tournament chairman. “Each year we strive to make this event better and better, but nothing makes the tournament better than a strong field of competitors. The Sun Bowl and our volunteers create a top quality event for the best college golfers in the world.”
Griffin, from Wilson, N.C., and Haley, from Dallas, Texas, were honorable mention All-Americans last spring after leading the Yellow Jackets to an 8th-place finish in the stroke-play portion of the NCAA Championship and a berth in the match play championship. Griffin currently ranks 18th in the nation in the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index, and Haley is No. 86.
This fall, Griffin finished no lower than 13th in any of the Yellow Jackets four tournaments, and posted three finishes in the top 10. Haley also had three top-10 showings in four events.
The field includes seven of the top 11 amateur golfers in the world, according to the R&A World Amateur Golf Rankings – Oklahoma State’s Uihlein and Kevin Tway, Illinois’ Langley, Washington’s Chris Williams, Augusta State’s Patrick Reed, and Georgia’s Russell Henley and Harris English.
Last season, the Western Refining College All-America Golf Classic ranked as the No. 1 tournament in the country for the sixth consecutive season, according to the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index.
“Western Refining has done a great deal to take the nation’s No. 1 golf tournament to the next level,” said Bernie Olivas, Sun Bowl Association Executive Director. “We could not put on a tournament of this magnitude without the support of Western Refining. It has become a true event that the nation’s best want to attend. It could not be more evident that with the number and quality of competitors in this year’s field.”
Throughout the years, many Western Refining College All-America Golf Classic competitors have gone on to pursue successful careers in the Professional Golfers’ Association of America and on the PGA Tour. Some of the past champions include Tech’s David Duval (1993), Matt Kuchar (1999) and Nicholas Thompson (2004), as well as Ricky Barnes (2000), Notah Begay (1994), Davis Love III (1984), Chris Nallen (2003), Jerry Pate (1974) and Tiger Woods (1995).
Alumni of the Golf Classic have gone on to earn more than $1.3 billion and win 540 events on the PGA Tour. In all, 139 colleges and universities have participated in the tournament, raising more than $670,000 in scholarship money for the participating institutions.
Each university is awarded a $1,000 scholarship if a golfer from that school competes in the tournament.
2010 Western Refining Sun Bowl All-America Golf Classic
List of Participants
Player Class Hometown School
Lee Bedford Jr. Cary, N.C. Wake Forest
Bud Cauley Jr. Jacksonville, Fla. Alabama
Alex Ching Jr. Honolulu, Hawai’i San Diego
Nick Delio Sr. Valencia, Calif. Cal State-Northridge
Harris English Sr. Thomasville, Ga. Georgia
Derek Ernst Jr. Clovis, Calif. UNLV
Dylan Frittelli Jr. Pretoria, South Africa Texas
Cody Gribble So. Dallas, Texas Texas
J.T. Griffin Sr. Wilson, N.C. Georgia Tech
John Hahn Sr. Hudson, Ohio Kent State
Paul Haley Sr. Dallas, Texas Georgia Tech
Hunter Hamrick Jr. Montgomery, Ala. Alabama
Russell Henley Sr. Macon, Ga. Georgia
T.J. Howe Sr. Osceola, Pa. Penn State
Jesper Kennegard Sr. Klippan, Sweden Arizona State
Alex Shi Yup Kim Jr. Fullerton, Calif. UCLA
Drew Kittleson Sr. Scottsdale, Ariz. Florida State
Ben Kohles Jr. Cary, N.C. Virginia
Scott Langley Sr. Manchester, Mo. Illinois
Tain Lee Jr. San Juan Capistrano, Calif. Claremont-Mudd-Scripps
Andrew Loupe Sr. Baton Rouge, La. LSU
Gregor Main Jr. Danville, Calif. UCLA
Eric Mina Sr. Freemont, Calif. California
Henrik Norlander Sr. Danderyd, Sweden Augusta State
John Peterson Sr. Fort Worth, Texas LSU
Jonathan Randolph Sr. Brandon, Miss. Mississippi
Patrick Reed Jr. Augusta, Ga. Augusta State
Jordan Russell Jr. College Station, Texas Texas A&M
Kevin Tway Sr. Edmond, Okla. Oklahoma State
Peter Uihlein Jr. Orlando, Fla. Oklahoma State
Chris Williams So. Moscow, Idaho Washington
Steven Ziegler Sr. Broomfield, Colo. Stanford
