Grand Canyon men's golf head coach
Mark Mueller announced the 2023-24 event schedule, with 10 regular-season events beginning in mid-September and the WAC Championship on April 26-28 in Payson, Arizona.
With goals set prior to the season, one is clear. Repeat.
GCU won the WAC Championship at Boulder Creek Golf Club last April for the first time in program history. Not only did the Lopes win the tournament by five strokes, but they tied a 54-hole record score at 34 under par. GCU went on to Morgan Hill, California, to compete in an NCAA regional as a team for the first time in program history and finished 11th after being middle of the pack with top teams in the country through 27 holes.
"I think in the 12 years I have been here, this is the best schedule we have had," Mueller said. "It's very competitive, and we are playing against a lot of good teams, week in and week out. These tournaments are exciting because they have Korn Ferry implications as well. If a player were to win a tournament that has those implications, they are eligible for a Korn Ferry event, which is very exciting."
The fall season is very similar to last year's first half of the schedule. The first three events mirror 2022-23 with the Wildcat Invitational in Manhattan, Kansas, the Mark Simpson Invitational in Boulder, Colorado, and the Visit Stockton Invitational in Stockton, California. The Lopes won the 16-team Visit Stockton Invitational last year. The fall season concludes at the Kapolei Classic in Kapolei, Hawaii.
The spring slate consists of six tournaments, beginning in Palm Desert, California, in the Wyoming Desert Intercollegiate. The Lopes head back to Hawaii for the John Burns Invitational before returning home to host the GCU Invitational. It heads to Eugene, Oregon, to partake in the Duck Invitational and returns home for the Cowboy Classic, hosted by Wyoming in Maricopa. The regular season ends in Davis, California, in the El Macero Classic.
"I am really fired up for the guys to see how we compete against these teams in these tournaments," Mueller said. "It's going to be a challenge, but this is what we are here for -- to play in good tournaments against good competition."
The WAC Championship runs April 26-28 at The Golf Club at Chapparal Pines in Payson, Arizona.