LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- The New Mexico State men's golf team returns to action on Monday and Tuesday, playing host to the 2009 Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate, Oct. 26-27 at the par 72, 7,074-yard NMSU Golf Course. The Aggies defend their title from a year ago, as NM State won the Herb Wimberly for the first time since 2006.
Teams will play 36 holes on Monday and 18 holes in Tuesday's final round with the action teeing off with a shotgun start each day at 8:00 a.m. (MT). Complete results and a recap of each day's action will be available at www.NMStateSports.com.
The field for the Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate features 17 teams including Air Force, Texas State, Boise State, Kansas State, UTEP, Nevada, New Mexico State, Rhode Island, Nebraska, UNLV, Illinois State, North Texas, Washington State, Kansas, Idaho, Western New Mexico and Santa Clara.
Since 1966, New Mexico State University has welcomed some of the top collegiate golf talent in the country to Las Cruces for its annual tournament. From 1980 to 1995, the tournament was sponsored by the Las Cruces Coca-Cola Bottling Company. Then in 1996 the tournament name was changed to the Herb Wimberly Intercollegiate in honor of former men's golf coach Herb Wimberly.
The Aggies have successfully defended their home course on 15 occasions and they had 12 individual medalists. NMSU all-American Ben Kern is the only player to capture the individual title on two occasions, winning in 1968 and 1969. The last time an Aggie team won the tournament was back in 2006. The last Aggie to win the individual title is current NM State head coach Scott Lieberwirth back in 1999.
The two most famous winners of the tournament are three-time U.S. Open champion Hale Irwin (1966) and ESPN writer Rick Reilly (1979).
The Aggies are coming off a two week layoff after competing at the 2009 Wolf Pack Classic back on Oct. 5-6, where they finished ninth overall as sophomore Gaston De La Torre led the Aggies with a 21st place finish.
Courtesy: New Mexico State University
