CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.---It's "Westward Ho!" for the Chattanooga Mocs men's golf team as it heads to Washington state for the PING/Golfweek Invitational.  This year's event is being played at Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash., one of the six regional sites for this year's NCAA Championship.  Play opens with 36 holes on Sunday, Sept. 27, and finishes with a final 18 on Monday.

Chattanooga is off to a great start to 2009-10.  After its runner-up finish at the Carpet Capital Collegiate Classic, UTC is ranked No. 1in the Golfstat Rankings and No. 4 in the Golfweek/Sagarin Ratings Index.  It is the second time in two years the Mocs are ranked atop the collegiate golf world.

Sophomore Stephan Jaeger leads the Mocs westward.  Ranked No. 7 in the Golfweek/Sagarin ratings, Jaeger played beautifully at the Farm finishing tied for third, one shot out of the lead, at four-under par 212.  He played 44 of the 54 holes (81.5%) at par or better for the event and did not score higher than a bogey for the event.

Seniors Derek Rende and Fredrick Qvicker are anchors in the lineup.  Qvicker finished tied for 17th (217/+1) at the Carpet Capital, while Rende came in tied for 20th (218/+2).  Qvicker is ranked in the top 50 nationally, No. 41, while Rende comes in at No. 53.

Senior J.T. Clendenin and freshman Steven Fox round out the lineup.  It is the same lineup from the opening event.

"We will have our work cut out for us," said head coach Mark Guhne.  "It is a very talented field and we have to be ready to play.

"Texas A&M is the defending national champion," added Guhne.  "Oklahoma State, USC and Alabama are always top programs.  Arizona State, LSU and N.C. State are awfully good.  And that is not to slight anyone here, everybody is capable of challenging for this title."

WHO:  Steven Fox.  The true freshman is off to a great start.  A top 25 (T24) finish in the Carpet Capital Collegiate to start his year has him ranked No. 68 nationally in the Golfweek/Sagarin Ratings Index.

WHAT:  PING/Golfweek Invitational - 54 holes (36/18)

WHEN:  Sunday, Sept. 27 through Monday, Sept. 28

WHERE:  Gold Mountain Golf Club; Bremerton, Wash.  Par 72, 7,104 yards.  The defending champ is Oklahoma State with last year's event played at Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio.  Live scoring at Golfstat.com or through GoMocs.com.

HOW:  The Mocs average drop score at the Farm was 75.0 with rounds of 75, 74 and 76 not counting over the 54 holes.  The three-day drop total of 225 would have finished third on two of the 12 teams this weekend and fourth on four teams including Tennessee.  Only one team, Georgia Tech, had all five players beat the Mocs' drop score of 225.

LINEUP (Scoring Avg.):  Stephan Jaeger (70.3), Fredrik Qvicker (72.3), Derek Rende (72.7), Steven Fox (73.3), J.T. Clendenin (74.0).

FIELD:  Alabama, Arizona State, CHATTANOOGA, Colorado State, Indiana, Kent, LSU, UNLV, New Mexico, N.C. State, Oklahoma State, Southern California, Texas A&M, TCU, Washington.

FIELD WITH RANKINGS(Golfstat/Golfweek):  Alabama (32/16), Arizona State (8/2),