STANFORD, Calif. - A quick turnaround for No. 22 Stanford men's golf as it makes the trip to the Lone Star State for the Ben Hogan Invitational from September 30-October 1. Hosted by TCU, the Ben Hogan Invitational returns to Colonial Country Club after a one-year hiatus.
THE COURSE » Closed for a course redesign for the 2023-24 season, the Colonial Country Club once again hosts one of college golf's premier fall tournaments on its par-70, 7,289-yard layout. The course holds the longest-running streak of hosting non-major tour events, hosting a PGA tour event yearly since 1946.
Opened in 1936, the Colonial Country Club has hosted the 1941 U.S. Open, the 1975 Tournament Players Championship, and the 1991 U.S. Women's Open.
THE FIELD » The Ben Hogan Invitational welcomes a group of the nation's top college golf programs to Fort Worth, with 11 of the 15 participating teams being ranked in the Bushnell/Golfweek Division I Coaches Poll.
The field consists of host TCU, Alabama, Arizona State, Auburn, Georgia, Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, Stanford, Texas, Texas A&M, Texas Tech, and Wake Forest.
TOURNAMENT FORMAT » The 54-hole tournament will be played under the play five, keep four format over two days. Monday's action will consist of 36 holes with the final 18 holes of competition to follow on Tuesday. Both days will begin with a 6 a.m. PT shotgun start.
LIVE SCORING » Live scoring for the Ben Hogan Invitational will be available on Golfstat.com with live coverage of the event on Twitter and Instagram at @StanfordMGolf.
LAST TIME OUT » In the fifth installment of the Big Match between the golf programs of Stanford and California, the Cardinal emerged victorious at Menlo Country Club, winning 4-2. It was the second time that Stanford has won the event, with its other victory coming in 2022. T.K. Chantananuwat, Ethan Gao, Logan Kim, and Nathan Wang each contributed match wins, sealing to win for Stanford.
LENG'S IMPRESSIVE DEBUT » In a condensed Fighting Illini Invitational that squeezed 54 holes of competition into two days rather than the scheduled three, Stanford opened the season with T-6th finish with an 8-over 848 weekend scorecard. Freshman Jay Leng impressed in his collegiate debut as Stanford's best finisher, placing T-15th on the weekend at 1-under par.
NATION'S TOP CLASS » Widely regarded as the top recruiting class of 2024, the Cardinal inked three exciting young golfers joining the program this season - T.K. Chantananuwat, Jay Leng Jr., and Logan Kim.
Chantananuwat, one of the world's best golf prospects, won the Trust Asian Mixed Cup at just 15 years of age to become the youngest player ever to win an event on a major professional tour. The Bangkok native has ranked as high as sixth in the World Amateur Golf Rankings and is the top Asian amateur golfer.
Leng is among California's elite in junior golf, ranked as the No. 1 recruit in the state according to Junior Golf Scoreboard. The San Diego native is a multiple AJGA Junior Tour champion and a two-time AJGA First-Team Rolex All-American.
Kim rounds out the 2024 class as yet another in-state commitment coming to The Farm. The San Jose native is the fourth-ranked recruit in the state of California according to Junior Golf Scoreboard, a Southern California Junior PGA Tour tournament winner, and has multiple top ten finishes on the AJGA Tour.
BOLSTERING THE STAFF » Stanford head coach Conrad Ray recently completed his staff ahead of the 2024-25 season, announcing the addition of Hong Seh Lim Assistant Men’s Golf Coach Alex Merrill on Monday afternoon.
Joining the staff in a newly-endowed role, Merrill comes to The Farm after a two-year tenure at Purdue as the Director of Administration & Performance for Golf, where he managed the operations and strength & conditioning for both the men's and women's golf programs. Under his guidance, the Boilermaker golf programs combined for six tournament wins and a pair of NCAA Championship appearances.
Previous stops for Merrill also includes Duke University, where he spent 12 seasons as a sports performance coach, as well as Attain Sports Performance in western Massachusetts.