Duke Travels to Dallas for Royal Oaks Intercollegiate

DURHAM, N.C. - The Duke men's golf team, 25th in the latest Golfweek / Sagarin Rankings, travel to Dallas this weekend to compete in the Royal Oak Intercollegiate, co-hosted by Baylor and SMU. The two-day, 54-hole tournament will be played at the 7,068-yard, par 71 Royal Oaks Country Club.

The 2011 Royal Oaks Intercollegiate field features eight teams ranked in the top 50 of the Golfweek / Sagarin Rankings as well as each of the last two Division I national champions (Augusta State and Texas A&M). Duke is joined in the field by No. 19 New Mexico, No. 24 Baylor, No. 29 Iowa, No. 30 Tulsa, No. 35 Oklahoma, No. 36 Texas A&M, No. 45 SMU as well as Army, Augusta State, Houston, Lamar, Missouri and Notre Dame.

Head coach Jamie Green will send a lineup of senior Spencer Anderson, juniors Brinson Paolini and Julian Suri and sophomores Austin Cody and Yaroslav Merkulov to the tournament. The Blue Devils are coming off an eighth place finish at the United States Collegiate Championship (Oct. 23-25).

Suri is having an outstanding fall season for the Blue Devils with a team-best 71.8 stroke average and two top five finishes. He earned medalist honors at the Rod Myers Invitational and is coming off a tie for third at the U.S. Collegiate Championship. Suri has six under-par efforts in his last nine rounds played and owns a 70.8 stroke average in that span.

Anderson ranks second on the team with a 72.4 stroke average and has a pair of top 20 finishes this fall. The Pacific Palisades, Calif., native has shot even-par or better in six of his 12 rounds played this season. Paolini has a 73.4 stroke average with four rounds of under-par golf. His best finish was a tie for fourth at the Rod Myers Invitational.

Merkulov is coming off a three-under 69 in the final round of the U.S. Collegiate Championship and owns a 74.0 stroke average in two tournaments this fall, while Cody enters the event with one under-par round and a 74.7 stroke average.

First and second round play will take place on Monday, Oct. 31 with a shotgun start at 7:30 am. The second round will be a continuous play following the first round. Duke will be paired with New Mexico and individuals from Baylor and SMU on the first day of competition. The final round will be played on Tuesday, Nov. 1 with groups going off No. 1 and No. 10 beginning at 7:30 am.

Live scoring for the Royal Oaks Intercollegiate is available at www.golfstat.com. Complete coverage of the event can be found at http://www.baylorbears.com/sports/m-golf/11royaloaks.html.