EL PASO, Texas (November 14, 2006) — The nation’s premier collegiate golfers are headed to El Paso this weekend for the 32nd edition of the Western Refining College All-America Golf Classic, slated for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday at El Paso Country Club.

This year’s tournament features eight Golfweek preseason first team All-Americans – Rhys Davies (East Tennessee State), Billy Horschel (Florida), Dustin Johnson (Coastal Carolina), Pablo Martin (Oklahoma State), Jonathan Moore (Oklahoma State), Cameron Tringale (Georgia Tech) and Dawie Van der Walt (Lamar). In all, 18 players in the field earned preseason All-America honors.

This year’s field includes three members of the 2006 U.S. Palmer Cup team – Chris Kirk (Georgia), Kevin Larsen (Georgia Tech) and Luke List (Vanderbilt). Three members of 2006 European Palmer Cup squad are also in field – Davies, Martin and Mark Haastrup (Georgia State).

Also in the field this year is returning champion Luke List, who will be making his third appearance in El Paso. Both medalists from last season’s NCAA Division I and Division II Championships are set to compete in this year’s event. Oklahoma State’s Moore took top honors at the Division I Championships and paced Oklahoma State to their 10th NCAA title. Jamie Amoretti of St. Mary’s University won the Division II title, as the Rattlers finished ninth.

 “This is truly a strong and competitive field,” said Steve Kauitzsch, tournament chairman. “Six of the top seven finishers from last year are in the field and we have strong presence of young golfers that could make for an interesting finish.”

Last season, the Western Refining College All-America Golf Classic ranked as the No. 1 tournament in the country for the second consecutive season, according to the Golfweek/Sagarin Performance Index.

 “Western Refining is truly one of El Paso’s great corporate citizens. They have gone out of there way to ensure that this tournament ranks as one of the best in the nation,” said Bernie Olivas, Sun Bowl Association Executive Director. “We could not put on a tournament of this magnitude without the support of Western Refining.”

In all, there are 28 golfers in the field, representing 21 schools.

Nine players will be returning to El Paso – Davies, Kirk, List, Martin, Johnson, Van der Walt, Brendon Todd (Georgia), Martin Ureta (North Carolina) and Alex Prugh (Washington). List won the event last year by one stroke over Kirk.

The tournament, hosted by the Sun Bowl Association, is played at the Par-71, 6,837-yard El Paso Country Club.

Throughout the years, many Western Refining College All-America Golf Classic competitors have gone on to pursue successful careers in the Professional Golfers’ Association of America and on the PGA Tour. Some of the past champions include Ricky Barnes (2000), Notah Begay (1994), David Duval (1991), Matt Kuchar (1999), Davis Love III (1984), Chris Nallen (2003), Jerry Pate (1974) and Tiger Woods (1995).

Alumni of the Golf Classic have gone on to earn more than $909 million on the PGA Tour. In all, 125 colleges and universities have participated in the tournament, raising more than $590,000 in scholarship money for the participating institutions.

Each university is awarded a $1,000 scholarship if a golfer from that school competes in the tournament.

Following is a schedule of events (times are MST):

Sunday, Nov. 19
Titleist Long Drive Contest (9 a.m.)
PING Putting Contest (10 a.m.)
Practice round (noon)

Monday, Nov. 20
First and second rounds, 36 holes (7:30 a.m.)

Tuesday, Nov. 21
Final round, 18 holes (7:30 a.m.)
Trophy presentation (following final round, approximately 1 p.m.)