Top-ranked Sooners look to defend title in Southern Highlands Collegiate

NORMAN — Fresh off a second-place finish at the Puerto Rico Classic, the No. 1-ranked Oklahoma men’s golf team is set to take part in one of the toughest collegiate events in golf in the Southern Highlands Collegiate. The three-day, 54-hole tournament features nine ranked teams – including the top five teams in the latest Golfweek/Sagarin Rankins.

Play begins Sunday at the par-72, 7,510-yard at the Southern Highlands Golf Club in Las Vegas, Nevada. The top-ranked Sooners will face No. 2 Georgia Tech, No. 3 Pepperdine, No. 4 Texas, No. 5 Duke, No. 7 Texas Tech, No. 13 SMU and No. 19 Georgia along with New Mexico, USC, TCU, UCF, UCLA and UNLV.

OU opened the spring with a second-place finish at the Puerto Rico Classic behind a three-round score of 834 (-30). Four Sooners finished in the top 10 individually, led by a first-place finish from Garett Reband.

Oklahoma’s lineup includes seniors Reband and Quade Cummins, along with sophomores Patrick Welch and Logan McAllister and freshman Jake Holbrook.

For the second year, the final round of the Southern Highlands Collegiate will be streamed live by College Golf Live. Coverage will begin at 1 p.m. CT on Tuesday on Golfweek.com and Golfstat.com. To watch, click here.

The individual champion of the Southern Highlands Collegiate will receive an exemption into the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open, which will take place Oct. 8-11 at TPC Summerlin in Las Vegas.