Charlotte Golf To Defend Title at PING/Golfweek Preview

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Senior Stefan Wiedergruen won the 2007 PING/Golfweek Preview

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Prestigious Event Played at 2009 NCAA Championship site

Sept. 26, 2008

Charlotte, N.C. - The Charlotte 49ers, who boast back-to-back NCAA Top 10 finishes, are one of 15 of the nation's top golf programs converging on Northwest Ohio this weekend when Toledo hosts the 20th annual PING/Golfweek Preview. The tournament will be held at the site of the 2009 NCAA Championships: Inverness Club, on Sunday-Tuesday, Sept. 28-30. Charlotte is the defending PING/Golfweek Preview champion, having won the 2007 event at Purdue. Last year's individual champion, Charlotte senior Stefan Wiedergruen, also returns to defend his title.

The Preview provides teams expected to compete at the 2009 NCAA Championships an opportunity to play Inverness' par-71, 7,255-yard layout prior to the event next spring. One of the premier tournaments in collegiate golf, this year's Preview features eight teams ranked in the top 10 of Golfweek's preseason poll, and 14 of the top 25.

The star-studded field that includes No. 1 Georgia, No. 2 Oklahoma State, No. 4 Southern Cal, No. 6 Florida, No. 7 Clemson, No. 8 Florida State, No. 9 Arizona State, No. 10 Georgia Tech, No. 11 Texas A&M, No. 12 Chattanooga, No. 19 Charlotte, No. 22 Tennessee and No. 25 Kent State. Oklahoma State has appeared in all 19 Previews with Arizona State, Clemson and Florida ranking second in appearances with 17. The Cowboys, Sun Devils and Tigers are tied for first in Preview wins with three apiece.

The Bulldogs have all five starters back from last year's squad that tied for eighth at the 2008 NCAA Championships, while the Cowboys finished fourth nationally and are led by sophomore Ricky Fowler, the 2008 Ben Hogan Award winner and the No. 2-ranked amateur in the world. USC posted a third-place NCAA finish last year and has four starters back, including junior and two-time first-team All-American Jamie Lovemark. The Gators registered an 11th-place NCAA showing in 2008 and are led by three-time All-American Billy Horschel and are the only two-time champion of the Inverness Intercollegiate (2002, 2005). Clemson placed fifth at last year's NCAAs and is led by junior and 2007 PING first-team All-American Kyle Stanley. The Seminoles enjoyed success last year at Inverness winning the tournament title, while the Sun Devils have everyone returning from last year's Pac-10 champions. Some of the past top participants in the event are Arizona's Jim Furyk, Arizona State's Phil Mickelson, Texas' Justin Leonard, Georgia Tech's Stewart Cink and David Duval, New Mexico's Tim Herron, Stanford's Casey Martin and Tiger Woods, UNLV's Chris Riley and Ryan Moore, Northwestern's Luke Donald, Georgia's Bubba Watson, Wake Forest's Bill Haas and Oklahoma State's Hunter Mahan.

The 54-hole tournament on Sunday with tee times beginning at Noon. The second round starts on Monday at 9:00 a.m., while Tuesday's final round begins at 8:30 a.m. Live scoring of the entire tournament can be found at golfstat.com.