NEW HAVEN, CT - Toledo will take part in the 41st-annual Macdonald Cup on Saturday-Sunday, Oct. 1-2 at the Yale University Golf Course. The 54-hole tournament will be played on a par-70, 6,810-yard layout. The two-day event will begin with a tee time start of 7:30 a.m. off Hole No. 1 and No. 10 with 36 holes on Saturday and a shotgun start of 8:45 a.m. with 18 holes on Sunday.

UT will compete against a 14-team field that includes Boston College, Connecticut, Dartmouth, East Tennessee State, Fairfield, Hartford, Harvard, Penn, Princeton, Rutgers, Sacred Heart, St. Edwards, Stirling (Scotland) and host Yale.

The Rockets' lineup at the Macdonald Cup will include freshman Thomas Thurloway, junior Stephen Watts, sophomore Jamie Knipe, junior Colin Joseph and freshman Grant Godfrey. Thurloway currently leads the team with a 72.1 stroke average, followed by Watts (73.3), Godfrey (75.3), Joseph (75.6), Knipe (76.9), sophomore Spencer Shoemaker (77.5) and freshman Joe Bryce (78.3).

Toledo, which will compete in the Macdonald Cup for the first time, is coming off a 10th-place finish at the 12th-annual Inverness Intercollegiate on Sept. 19-20 at the renowned Inverness Club. The Rockets posted a team score of 35-over par 887 (295-295-297).

Individually, Thurloway tied for 16th place at two-over par 215 (71-72-72) to pace the Midnight Blue & Gold at the Inverness event. The Crawley, England native has now placed in the Top 16 in all three tourneys this fall and been Toledo's top finisher in each of the last two events.

Watts was the next highest finisher at eight-over par 221 (78-71-72) and tied for the 39th spot, followed by Joseph at 17-over par 230 (72-79-79) and tied for 60th place. 

Last fall, Harvard (285-283=568, +8) finished with four players among the Top five scorers and captured the team title at the Macdonald Cup by 12 strokes over second-place Minnesota (294-286=580, +20). Individually, the Golden Gophers' Jon DuToit captured medalist honors at one-under par 139 (72-67). 

In 1924, a 700-acre tract of swamp and woodland was given to Yale by Mrs. Ray Tompkins in memory of her husband. Under the supervision of Charles Blair Macdonald, the renowned golf course architect, champion golfer, and co-founder of the USGA, plans were made for an 18-hole golf course. With a budget of $400,000, Macdonald, in collaboration with Seth Raynor and Charles Banks, designed a masterpiece which opened for play in 1926.

Today, the Yale Golf Course is recognized as one of the finest examples of early American golf course design. Large deeply bunkered greens and narrow rolling fairways are the core of Yale's penalizing character. In 1988, Golf Magazine ranked Yale as 71st among the 100 most difficult courses in the world. Many recognize the layout as the best collegiate course in the nation. Two of the holes- the 432-yard par-4 fourth and the 238-yard par-3 ninth - have been ranked among the 100 most difficult holes. The Yale course has been the site of every significant state championship, two USGA Junior National events, the 1991 NCAA Eastern Regional championships, the 1991 ECAC Men's Championship, and the 1992 ECAC Women's Championship. During the NCAA tourney, only 21 subpar rounds were recorded of the 360 played during the three days. The course has also been the home of the Nike Connecticut Open.

Fans can view live scoring for next week's event through GolfStat at golfstat.com. 

Following the Macdonald Cup, UT will participate in Mountaineer Intercollegiate on Monday-Tuesday, Oct. 10-11 in Bridgeport, WV.

The Macdonald Cup
Date: Oct. 1-2, 2016
Where: Yale University Golf Course, New Haven, CT (Par-70 • 6,810 Yards)
Teams: Boston College, Connecticut, Dartmouth, East Tennessee State, Fairfield, Hartford, Harvard, Pennsylvania, Princeton, Rutgers, Sacred Heart, St. Edwards, Stirling (Scotland), TOLEDO, Yale