The Grand Canyon men's golf team is having a tremendous March, placing in the top three twice with a first-place showing in its home tournament two weeks ago.
The Lopes will look to keep the momentum going with the two-day Duck Invitational at the Eugene (Oregon) Country Club on Monday and Tuesday.
GCU enters the tournament No. 46 in Clippd Scoreboard rankings, the highest spot in program history. The Lopes are one of four teams competing in Eugene who are ranked in the top 50, joining host No. 36 Oregon, No. 40 Little Rock and No. 45 Colorado State.
The 15-team field also includes UTEP, Oregon State, Saint Mary's, Cincinnati, Wyoming, San Jose State, Boise State, CSU Fullerton, Idaho, Southern Illinois and Washington.
GCU freshman
Matthew Diehl enters the tournament as the field's highest ranked golfer via Clippd Scoreboard player rankings, coming in at No. 41 in the nation. He is the No. 3 freshman in the country and No. 1 American freshman among the group. Diehl took home WAC Golfer of the Week accolades March 13 after winning the Desert Mountain Intercollegiate and placing sixth in the GCU Invitational.
Diehl will be joined by fellow Lopes freshman
Nixon Lauritzen, seniors
Kiko Coelho and
Josh McCabe, and graduate
Tommaso Zorzetto, who tied for first at the GCU Invitational after a six-hole playoff ended due to timing. McCabe makes his first start of the spring season for the Lopes.
The Eugene Country Club will play at 6,997 yards with a slope of 135 and a par 71. The Duck Invitational has seen great talent over the course of its 35-year history, including Masters and U.S. Open winner Jon Rahm (Arizona State) and five-time PGA Tour winner Nick Taylor (Washington), who won in 2015 and 2009, respectively.
Play begins Monday with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m., with the second round following it. The third and final round will begin at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Live results of the tournament can be found
here.