Feb. 11, 2015
LOS ANGELES – Freshman Tyler `Chip’ McDaniel will join former Wildcat great J.B. Holmes in the inaugural Northern Trust Open Collegiate Showcase beginning Feb. 16 at The Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, Calif. The event is the first-of-its-kind in which collegians will play alongside top PGA Tour professionals and two amateurs to represent their respective universities.
The professional and the two amateurs (not the collegian) will team up in a best-ball competition and compete for the Collegiate Showcase Trophy and a donation of $50,000 to the university’s golf program. Each collegian will play their own ball with the low medalist earning a spot in the Northern Trust Open just three days later.
“What an incredible opportunity for Chip to be able to participate in the Northern Trust Collegiate Showcase,” UK head coach Brian Craig said. “To be able to play in a tournament with J.B. Holmes at the famed Riviera Country Club with a chance to earn a spot in that week’s PGA Tour event is simply an opportunity that we could not pass up. Also playing will be two good friends of our program, Jimmy Kirchdorfer and Don Rodgers, to help our team win the event and a substantial donation to our men’s golf program. This will also be a perfect way for Chip to get tuned up for our spring season and help lead our team to a great semester.”
The 18-hole event begins at 11:30 a.m. ET on Monday, Feb. 16. The course covers a distance of 7,279 yards and par is set at 71. Designed by George C. Thomas, Jr., the course has played host to multiple major championships including the 1948 U.S. Open and the PGA Championship in 1983 and 1995.
McDaniel led the Wildcats with a 72.8 stroke average in four fall tournaments which included three top-20 finishes and a win at the Quail Valley Collegiate Invitational. Holmes was a four-year letterwinner for the Wildcats and helped guide UK to an SEC Championship in 2005. He’s competed on the PGA Tour since 2006 which includes six professional wins and top 25 finishes at all four major championship events.
The Northern Trust Open is one of the longest-running tournaments on the PGA Tour. Debuting in 1926 at Los Angeles Country Club, the event had been staged at various courses throughout the Los Angeles area before permanently settling at The Riviera Country Club in 1973.
The Northern Trust Open boasts an impressive list of past champions that includes 25 World Golf Hall of Fame members such as Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer and Phil Mickelson.
For more information on the University of Kentucky men’s golf team please visit UKathletics.com and follow us on Twitter @UKmensgolf.
