Linksters earn invite to play in Brickyard Collegiate

First-year Middle Tennessee head men's golf coach Whit Turnbow's Blue Raiders have been invited to play in the Brickyard Collegiate. (Bradley Lambert)

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - First-year Middle Tennessee head golf coach Whit Turnbow has made it clear he wants the Blue Raiders competing against some of the best teams the sport has to offer at the collegiate level.

Turnbow and the Blue Raiders will get that chance when they compete in the inaugural Brickyard Collegiate Golf Championship in Macon, Ga., Oct. 7-9. The loaded field includes 2007 national runner-up Georgia - the 2007 NCAA Team of the Year, Georgia Tech, which finished fourth in the NCAA Championships, as well as a Clemson team that lost a playoff in the East Regional for a berth in the NCAA Championships.

The field also includes Hartford, the 2007 American East Champions who received an at-large berth into the NCAA East Regional, as well as Middle Tennessee, Mercer, Troy and Furman.

"We appreciate the Brickyard Committee inviting us to play in this tournament and acknowledging our success and where our program is at this point," Turnbow said. "We look to build on that this upcoming season and this tournament provides us with such an opportunity.

"We stress to our team that people take notice when you play the game right and can compete at a high level, and the people organizing this tournament noticed those traits about our program."

Middle Tennessee lost a playoff at the Sun Belt Conference Championship last April but sophomore Chas Narramore - a first-team All-SBC selection, earned an at-large berth into the NCAA Tournament field. He became the first Blue Raider to compete in the NCAA Championships as an individual at the Division I level. The Blue Raiders return four starters from last year's lineup, which posted a 115-29-2 record and ended the season ranked 47th in GolfState.com.

"We play in some very competitive tournaments against some quality teams but all competitors want to play against the very best and that's what we have a chance to do in this tournament," said rising sophomore Craig Smith, who was medalist at the 2007 SBC Championships. "We have a great team coming back and all of our players believe we can compete at the highest level. We are looking forward to the challenges the upcoming season will provide."

The Brickyard Collegiate will be staged at the Mark McCumber-designed, par-72, 7,128-yard course, The Brickyard at Riverside, and hosted by Mercer University.

Brickyard Collegiate lineup
Oct. 7-9, 2007
The Brickyard at Riverside, Macon, Ga.
Clemson
Furman
Georgia
Georgia Tech
Hartford
Mercer
Middle Tennessee
Troy