An automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament is up for grabs for the UConn men’s golf team and the other nine squads rounding out the Big East Conference this weekend at Riverton Pointe Golf Course in Hardeeville, South Carolina.
Led by graduate student Jared Nelson, the Huskies will be looking to win their second Big East Championship in the last three years. Connecticut has six top 10 finishes across invitational play this season and has been trending in the right direction over their last few performances. Dave Pezzino’s squad will be looking to put together their best performance yet with a potential trip to the NCAA Tournament on the line. The head coach was recently asked about how his team is feeling ahead of the Big East Championship.
“I think the team is really looking forward to playing for the conference title,” Pezzino said. “Riverton Pointe is a good golf course – a good, fair test. I think the team that’s going to win the conference championship at Riverton is going to be a patient, disciplined group of guys. It’s a good opportunity for us to round into form and show a lot of maturity this week.”
Pezzino also added that his team got some much needed rest before tackling their biggest challenge of the year.
“[We had a] really good week of prep. We seem to be coming into form and that’s what we needed – one real solid week of prep, instead of going tournament to tournament to tournament to conference. It was a real good spot in the schedule to get prepared.”
UConn will be led by Nelson, Tommy Dallahan, Jimmy Paradise, Trevor Lopez and Colin Spencer in the tournament. Standout golfers Nelson, Paradise, and Dallahan were members of the 2021 Big East Championship team, and their experience will be crucial for any chance of another title.
Championship play will begin on Friday at 8 a.m. and live scoring can be followed on GolfStat.
