Defending champion Davis Riley
NAPLES, Fla. — Naples National Golf Club will
host the 20th annual Terra Cotta
Invitational beginning Friday, with Alabama
commit Davis Riley in the field
attempting to repeat last year's winning
performance.
The defending champion, who signed a letter of
intent to play for the Crimson Tide
last November, headlines the 2015 field, along
with last year's runner-up Hayden
Wood, a freshman at Oklahoma State. Wood, a
native of Edmond, Okla., finished
just one stroke behind Riley a year ago, shooting
rounds of 71-70-72.
A number of 2015 winners will be in the field, as
well. Let's take a look at a few
notable participants who could keep Riley from
repeating this weekend.
Todd
White of Spartanburg, S.C. is the
current
Azalea
Invitational champion, winning last
month as a 47-year-old to become the first non-
junior or college golfer to win at
the Country Club of Charleston since 2000. White
might have secured his spot on
the 2015 Walker Cup team with that win, and
will be one of a few top mid-amateur players in
the field including Gene
Elliott, Kenny Cook, Bill Williamson,
Colby Harwell, and 2013 U.S. Mid-Amateur
winner Mike McCoy.
Florida junior golfer
Gabriel
Lench
finished off 2014 with a bang, winning the South
Beach International Amateur by a stroke over
recently turned-pro Adam Svensson of Canada.
Lench, who has signed to play collegiately for
Liberty University in Virginia, captured the 2015
AJGA Carlton Woods Invitational, as well,
beating No. 1-ranked junior Sam
Burns and raising
his own ranking to No. 17 in the Golfweek Junior
Rankings.
Another Florida high-schooler,
Sam
Horsfield, went head-to-head with 2014
U.S. Amateur winner Gunn Yang to win
this year's
New Year's
Invitational in St. Petersburg, Florida. He
edged LSU golfer Brandon
Pierce with a chip-in on the final hole to win by a
single stroke.
Horsfield, originally from
England, has signed to play collegiately for
the University of Florida. In last year's event, he
tied for eighth after
opening with 77.
The highest-ranked amateur in the field
is SMU junior
Bryson DeChambeau,
currently sitting in the No. 11 spot in
the
Golfweek/AmateurGolf.com World
Rankings. DeChambeau, of
Clovis, Calif., will be gearing up for his
collegiate team's American Athletic
Conference Championship, taking place just a
week later in Florida.
DeChambeau's teammate Austin Smotherman is
also in the field. DeChambeau
was the 2013 Trans-Miss champion and was as
member of the 2014 World
Amateur Team.
Originating in 1996 as a match play event, the
Terra Cotta has developed into a
top-tier amateur event. In 2006, the format was
changed from match play to a
54-hole stroke play event with 50 players.
Currently, the field is 78 with a
combination of juniors, mid-amateurs and
foreign players.
Notable past champions of the event include
current PGA Tour players like Matt
Kuchar (1997), Bud Cauley (2008), and Justin
Thomas (2010).
ABOUT THE
Terra Cotta Invitational
54-hole stroke play tournament with no cut.
Caddies are required. A Sponsor/Contestant
tournament is held before the event.
The Terra Cotta is an invitational. However,
they do
encourage applications and players can submit
their
golf resume for consideration.
View Complete Tournament Information