SPOKANE, Wash. - The Gonzaga men's golf team welcomes 15 programs to the Bandon Dunes Golf Resort for the sixth annual Bandon Dunes Championships beginning Friday.

This year's field includes 13 teams of five players and eight individuals taking on the Bandon Dunes Course. This is the first time the course will be used in the tournament since 2011. The tournament rotates between the resort's four courses each year.

"We're very excited to host the Bandon Dunes Championship," Gonzaga Head Coach Robert Gray said. "Bandon Dunes Golf Resort is a special place, where the student-athletes will have an amazing and unforgettable experience. Playing along the Oregon coast, the Bandon Dunes Course offers amazing scenery along with an excellent challenge.

Being a true links course, we'll be playing more golf along the ground rather than flying shots at the pins. The course should play firm and fast, requiring one to pay attention to where the ball will roll out, rather than just fly and stop. The wind is always a factor and controlling the trajectory of our shots will be very important."

On Saturday, the forecast calls for winds at 13 miles per hour, with 11 mile per hour wind following in the final round. Both those days call for 90 percent chances of rain. Temperatures should stay around the mid-50s.

The 54-hole, three-round tournament will use the four best scores of each five-man team for team scoring. The par-72 Bandon Dunes Course plays 6,798 yards. This year's field includes Army, Colorado, Duke, Gonzaga, Hartford, Loyola Marymount, Missouri, CSU-Northridge, San Jose State, St. Mary¹s, Stephen F. Austin, UC Davis, UM-Kansas City, UNC-Wilmington, Utah Valley, and Washington State.

"As always, we can't control what the other teams do," Gray said. "We need to focus on ourselves and play the course intelligently, by picking good lines, avoid short siding ourselves and have excellent patience."

The Zags have had a three-week break since finishing tied for second at the Neville Kovacs Group Intercollegiate in Goodyear, Ariz. They shot 10-over par in the tournament led by seventh-place finishes by James Fahy and Angus Montgomery.

Last season, GU placed 10^th at the Bandon Dunes Championship. Peter Gullickson tied for seventh to lead the Bulldogs. Sean Walsh and James Fahy finished 47^th and 59^th. Missouri won the team title, while Washington's Jonathan Sanders claimed the individual title. A Husky has won medalist honors three of the five years in the tournament's history.

Each round of the tournament tees off at 8:30 a.m. Live scoring will be available on GoZags.com with links to Golfstat.com.

PREVIOUS TEAM CHAMPIONS:
2010 - Notre Dame (317-305-622) - played at Pacific Dunes
2011 - Washington (281-285-305-871) - played at Bandon Dunes
2012 - Long Beach State * (291-287-857) - played at Bandon Trails
2013 - Colorado (291-286-285-862) - played at Old MacDonald Course
2014 - Missouri (281-284-298-863) - played at Pacific Dunes
*Won scorecard tie breaker vs. Washington

PREVIOUS INDIVIDUAL CHAMPIONS:
2010 - Doug Fortner, Notre Dame (77-73-150)
2011 - Charlie Hughes, Washington (67-68-75-210)
2012 - Chris Williams, Washington (71-67-66*-204)
2013 - Troix Tonkham, Fresno State (70-71-69-210)
2014 - Jonathan Sanders, Washington (71-67-72-210)
*Course record (also set by Kevin Lim of Long Beach State on same day)