By
Jennifer Jory / Fresno State Athletics CommunicationsIt's that time of year again and all of the Fresno State athletic teams are gearing up for a new season of action. The men's golf team is starting off this centennial season in a big way. They will be heading off to Tanagura, Japan to compete in the 28th Annual Topy Cup.
The Topy Cup is a large golf tournament held in Japan for both men's and women's teams. The tournament is open to U.S. collegiate teams as well as Japanese collegiate teams. The U.S. teams must be invited by the Japanese Golf Association in order to participate. The Topy Cup is held at the Tanagura Country Club in Tanagura, Japan every year in early September.
This fall the Fresno State men's golf team will be competing in the Topy Cup on September 9-11. There are 90 players total in the tournament and only six teams are invited from the United States. The organizers of the tournament pay for five players and one coach from each team to travel to Japan to compete. Fresno State was picked as one of the four men's teams to travel to Japan this year. The other U.S. men's golf teams traveling to Japan are the University of Arizona, Arizona State, and Texas A&M. The women's golf teams traveling to Japan are the University of Arizona and UC Davis.Â
The teams
have a tradition of exchanging small gifts at the beginning of the
tournament. These gifts are usually
mementos from the Universities and all of the American teams exchange them with
students from the Japanese teams. This
allows the student athletes to bond and be able to take home a personal
souvenir from the tournament.
The
tournament consists of 54 holes which are played over a three day period. There is a team and an individual champion
crowned on the last day of play. The
teams will spend the first day of the trip playing a practice round and getting
familiar with the course that they will be competing on over the next three
days. After the teams are done with
their practice rounds, there will be a long drive contest. For this event one student from each team
will be asked to participate. Following
the long drive contest will be a welcome party for all of the teams and
coaches.
The
following three days will consist of the actual tournament. For each round a U.S. team will be paired up
with two Japanese teams. On the last day
of competition award ceremonies will be held and team and individual champions
will be crowned. There is also a
farewell party held that evening for all of the teams to celebrate the
conclusion of the tournament.
Coach Mike
Watney and the men's golf team are excited for their trip to Japan. The Topy
Cup is a great way to open the centennial season. Don't forget to check gobulldogs.com for all
of the latest updates from Tanagura Japan!
Leave a comment