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The University of Mississippi Athletics
Randolph Picked For Western Refining All-America Classic
11/19/2010 | Men's Golf
Nov. 19, 2010
OXFORD, Miss. -- Ole Miss senior golfer Jonathan Randolph has been selected to compete in the prestigious Western Refining College All-America Classic Nov. 22-23 at the par-71 6,837-yard El Paso Country Club in El Paso, Texas.
Thirty-two of the nation's premier collegiate golfers are headed to El Paso for the 36th edition of the tournament.
The field includes seven of the top 11 amateur golfers in the world, according to the R&A World Amateur Golf Rankings. Randolph is among six golfers representing the SEC in the field.
Last season, the Western Refining College All-America Golf Classic ranked as the No. 1 tournament in the country for the sixth consecutive season, according to the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index.
Randolph enjoyed one of the best seasons by a Rebel golfer in 2010, becoming the ninth All-American in the program's history and ending the year ranked No. 6 in the nation. He posted the lowest stroke average in a season by a Rebel and was a member of the winning Palmer Cup Team in the summer.
"It is a great honor for Jonathan and for Ole Miss for him to play in the All-American," head coach Ernest Ross said. "He is truly deserving of this opportunity. He has worked hard and wants to make a real impact."
The Brandon, Miss., native is the fourth Ole Miss golfer to be invited to this tournament. The other three are former All-Americans, Darren Cole (1984) Dave Peege (1984) and Brian Rowell (1995). In fact, Cole finished second to 1997 PGA Champion Davis Love III and Rowell finished 16th, nine strokes back of 14-time major winner Tiger Woods. Current assistant coach Jack O'Keefe played in it as he was a four-time All-American at Arkansas.
"This is like the All-Stars of college golf. There are not many tournaments all year with players of this caliber," Randolph said. "It's definitely a great chance to test myself to see how I stack up against the best players. I've been working really hard, working on my driving. This will be a good chance to put it under the gun. I will be going up against the reigning U.S. Amateur Champion among others.
"El Paso is higher in altitude so the ball will fly. I've heard the weather is really good and the people are nice. Only a handful of guys get to play in this. I've been talking to some of the guys who played in it last year, and they said it's a lot of fun."
Each university is awarded a $1,000 scholarship if a golfer from that school competes in the tournament.
The event begins Sunday with the Titleist Long Drive Contest, the PING Putting Contest and a practice round. The first round begins Monday, Nov. 22 at 9 a.m. CT, with the second round to follow. The tournament concludes Tuesday, Nov. 23 with the final round beginning at 9 a.m. CT.
Live scoring will be available by going to www.OleMissSports.com and clicking on the link on the front page calendar.
