There’s a new men’s college golf event coming this fall, and it’s at a site where the PGA Tour visits every year.
The Valero Corporation announced Tuesday the creation of the Valero Texas Collegiate, which will be held Sept. 8-11 at TPC San Antonio’s Oaks Course, also site of this week’s Tour event. The first day will be a college amateur competition, with 54 holes of stroke play to follow.
The University of Texas at San Antonio will be the host school, and the initial field is loaded. Current top-ranked Vanderbilt will be there, along with Oklahoma, Georgia Southern, Baylor, TCU, Virginia, LSU, Louisville, Georgia and Florida Gulf Coast. The final of the 12 teams will be announced at a later date.
“This is something that we, as an event and alongside Valero, have been following for a very long time, as college golf has risen in priority and importance in terms of cultivating the next generation of stars,” said Larson Segerdahl, executive director of the Valero Texas Open. “We are thrilled to be able to join the ranks of the elite college golf tournaments out there and have, we believe, a top field as we kick off this year’s event.”
The winner of the event will earn an exemption into the 2024 Valero Texas Open.
“This is a great opportunity for a young rising talent to not only compete at the highest level of college golf, but then to be able to tee it up next to the world’s best here on the PGA Tour,” Segerdahl said.
Former Georgia Bulldog and current PGA Tour player Brendon Todd said it’s a special opportunity for college athletes to play a course that the Tour does.
“I think is going to be something that’s going to be really special going forward,” Todd said.
