Bucs set to host 26-team field at Wendy's Kiawah Classic beginning Sunday

KIAWAH ISAND, S.C. – The Charleston Southern Buccaneers will host the third annual Wendy’s Kiawah Classic beginning Sunday at Turtle Point Golf Course on Kiawah Island.

Tee times for the 54-hole event begin at 7:30 a.m. each day and continue through the afternoon. The tournament features one of the largest fields of the college season. Twenty-Six teams will play in the event on the Jack Nicklaus Signature Course.

"This tournament will have some of the nation’s top golf on display," CSU head coach Mike Wilson said on Friday. "You will see some great golf and competition. We want to thank Wendy's for their continued sponsorship and Turtle Point Golf Course for their continued support of a great event."

The field features a slew of top tier programs from all over the country, including defending champions Campbell, as well as past champions CSU, College of Charleston and Radford. While there are six Big South Conference teams in the field (Winthrop, Radford, CSU, Presbyterian, High Point and Campbell), there are also teams from the SEC (South Carolina), the Big Ten (Wisconsin), and the Big East (St. John’s, Marquette and Connecticut). The field also stretch across the country, as Boise State makes the trip to the Charleston area after the Bucs played in the Broncos tournament last month.

"We are excited to have teams such as Boise State, South Carolina and defending champion Campbell competing in this event," Wilson added. "This year's field consists of teams from all over the country, which allows everyone an opportunity to see how they stack up against teams outside of their region. With six Big South teams in this year's field, we will see how our league compares against others across the country and we’ll also get to see where we stack up against some of the teams in our conference."

Turtle Point Golf Course again hosts the event. It’s the third-straight year the course has hosted the Wendy’s Kiawah Classic, and the fifth time CSU has hosted a tournament at Turtle Point. The course is a par-71, and will play at just over 7,000 yards. It is the 48th-ranked course on Golf Digest’s Top 100 Public Courses.

The Bucs are hoping to improve on their sixth place finish two weeks ago at the wind-blown Kenny Perry Invitational in Kentucky.

Junior Ross Thomson average score this fall is 74.7 through four tournaments. He finished third at the BSU Dash Thomas Memorial in late September for the Bucs’ top individual finish this fall.

Sophomore Jarrett Swan has also played in every tournament this fall and leads the team with a 74.2 per round average. He finished sixth at the Raines Invitational in early September and eighth at the Kenny Perry Invitational for two Top 10 finishes in four tournaments.

Freshman Nicolas Baena and sophomores Choo Teck Ng and C.J. Liner are all in search of their first Top 20 this season.

"Our team is hoping to rebound after a slow start to the fall," Wilson said. "I believe we can compete with the best teams in the country if all five guys can put their best effort not only physically, but also mentally. We play a very challenging and strong schedule all season long to help prepare us for the post season. This event goes along way in our overall record and hopefully we will end the fall on a good note heading into the off-season and spring."