Preview: Men’s golf springs in California

Chattanooga Mocs Tennis: A Promising Competition to Come

CHATTANOOGA—The Chattanooga Mocs will once again line up on the tee at the start of 2025 with a trip to the West Coast. They start their adventure Monday at the Southwestern Invitational, which takes place in the Los Angeles area, within one of the best draws in college golf.

The tournament will be held at Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks, where two of the programs are in the top 10: (5) Texas and (10) UCLA, along with two others in the top 15 (14) Florida and (15) Vanderbilt.

On the program, 18 holes per day for this competition which brings together 14 teams, starting Monday and ending Wednesday. Past medalists from this tournament include several current and past PGA TOUR winners such as Corey Pavin (UCLA), Dan Forsman (Arizona State) and of course, Tiger Woods (Stanford).

Each round will begin at noon Eastern Time with teams playing holes 1 and 10 all three days. The Mocs will play with USC and Duke starting at 12:20 p.m. Monday, starting on hole 10.

Tournament 5: Southwestern Invitational
Dates : January 27-29 | Format : 18 holes/day | Host : Pepperdine
Course : Sherwood CC ; Par 71 ; 7 081 yards | Lieu : Thousand Oaks, Californie
Teams: Chattanooga, (11) Arizona, Cal, (10) UCLA, (24) Duke, (14) Florida, UNLV, (19) Pepperdine, San Diego State, San Jose State, USC, (5) Texas, (15) Vanderbilt & Washington

Resources : Statistics/Notes

Follow the Tournament:
Scoring : Tableau des scores
Social Media: Twitter/X: @GoMocsMGLF | Instagram: @GoMocsMGLF

Composition :
Camden Braidech – Average: 72.25
Ethan Whitaker – Average: 75.08
Carson Johnson – Average: 75.33
Aidan Cohl – First departure
Braedon Wear – Average: 74.00

Namely

• Cohl is a mid-year transfer from Ole Miss, with 3.5 years of eligibility remaining as a redshirt freshman.
• The Mocs lineup earned its ticket to the West Coast through a 4-lap qualifying event in difficult winter conditions.
• The tournament has seven teams in the top 25 and 11 of the 14 schools are in the top 50 nationally.
• Braidech won a title at this season’s opener at the Qubein Cup in Greensboro, North Carolina. Further success in 2024-25 would place him alongside several other Mocs who have managed to achieve multiple individual accolades in a single season.
• The team is in great shape with at least one eagle in five of the last six rounds, including four at Steelwood.
• The coach Blaine Woodruff joined Chattanooga in 2022 after serving as an assistant coach at Pepperdine, where he won a national title in 2021.
• Nick Robinson, a former Woodruff assistant, also took over as head coach at Pepperdine after working at Chattanooga.

Coach’s opinion Blaine Woodruff on…
Return to the Pepperdine tournament:
“I’m really excited to come back to North Los Angeles. Sherwood is a fantastic course and the welcome from the Pepperdine teams is always exceptional. I have very fond memories of my time there, including winning a National Title and meeting my wife. This event will always hold a special place for me.”

Preparing for harsh conditions:
“These last few weeks have been some of the most difficult I have experienced as a coach. We had to get creative with our preparation, and I’m grateful to our team for their determination, even in freezing temperatures. Their seriousness and rigorous preparation show that they are ready for this tournament.”

The benefits of this long trip:
“Challenges are necessary to bring about change. Our goal is to progress every day, both personally and sportingly. Competitions like this prepare us to achieve our long-term ambitions. We have to learn to step out of our comfort zone and we look forward to taking advantage of this great opportunity this week.”

History of the Tournament
First participation

Next meeting
3-4 février : Battle at Briar’s Creek | G.C. at Briar’s Creek | Johns Island, S.C. (College of Charleston)