HUTCHINSON, Kan.  – The West Virginia University golf team heads to its second-ever Big 12 Championship this week, as the team travels to Hutchinson, Kansas, from Monday through Wednesday.

 

Hosted by Kansas, the 72-hole event will take place at the par-70, 6,940-yard Prairie Dunes Country Club. Teams will place 36 continues holes on Monday, with one round per day on Tuesday and Wednesday. Paired with No. 9 seed Kansas State, No. 10 West Virginia will tee off at 10:30 a.m. ET on Monday.

 

“Prairie Dunes will challenge everything in your game, both physically and mentally,” WVU coach Sean Covich said. “Add in the expected 40 mile-per-hour wind gusts expected, and it’s going to be tough.”

 

Max Sear, Alan Cooke, Chris Williams, Tristan Nicholls and Etienne Papineau will make up the Mountaineer lineup. Sear, Cooke, Williams and Nicholls return for the second straight season at Big 12s, while Papineau, a freshman, will make his debut. Covich has used this lineup at eight prior events, including the record-breaking outing at the Seminole Intercollegiate in March and the win at the East Carolina Intercollegiate earlier this month.

 

Sear narrowly missed earning all-conference accolades at the 2016 Big 12 Championship in Trinity, Texas, taking 12th place overall. He boasts a team-best 73.10 scoring average and shot a season-low 216 to open the season at the Invitational at the Ocean Course in September. Sear has carded three rounds in the 60s, tying the school record with a bogey-free 66 at the VCU Janney Shootout in October. He has five top-20 finishes this year, including a runner-up finish at the East Carolina Intercollegiate.

 

Seniors Cooke and Williams will look to wrap their collegiate careers on a high note. Cooke ranks second on the team with a 73.41 scoring average and set a program record at 10 under par with a 206 at the Seminole Intercollegiate. He’s produced a trio of top-10 finishes this year and shot five rounds of 69 or better, tying the program record with a 66 at the Furman Intercollegiate. Williams is third on the team with a stroke average of 74.00. He shot a season-low 213 at Florida State and recorded his third top-10 finish of the season last week, taking 10th at the Rutherford Intercollegiate.

 

Nicholls has played in 11 tournaments with a 74.60 scoring average. He shot a low round of 68 at the Seminole Intercollegiate, and posted a season-low 215 at the event. Papineau is averaging 74.90 through 11 events with a pair of rounds in the 60s.

 

Live scoring is available for all four rounds via Golfstat.com.