Sept. 22, 2005

EVANSTON, Ill. -- One of college golf's most unique and premier events comes to Chicagoland on Monday and Tuesday, Oct. 3-4.

The Second Annual Big Ten/Pac-10 Challenge -- featuring the top programs from both conferences -- is set for The Glen Club in Glenview, Ill. The 14 teams will play 36 holes on Monday followed by the final 18 holes Tuesday.

This year's field includes seven schools from each league: Arizona, Arizona State, California, UCLA, Oregon, USC and Washington from the Pac-10; Indiana, Illinois, Michigan State, Minnesota, Northwestern, Ohio State and Purdue from the Big Ten.

Individually, the field includes some of college golf's top players: Alejandro Canizares (Arizona State), the 2003 NCAA national champion and the 2004 Big Ten/Pac-10 Challenge winner; James Lepp (Washington), the 2005 NCAA national champion; and Dillon Dougherty (Northwestern), the 2005 U.S. Amateur finalist. In addition, 17 players in the field earned first- or second-team all-conference honors in 2005.

The tournament, which was held for the first time last year in Bandon, Ore., rotates annually between three courses -- Pacific Dunes and Bandon Dunes in Oregon, and The Glen Club in Glenview. All three courses are owned or managed by KemperSports Management in Northbrook, Ill.

"Northwestern is anxious to bring this event to Chicago," says NU coach Pat Goss. "We have some outstanding teams and golfers competing and it should be an extremely competitive tournament. The Big Ten and the Pac-10 have a tremendous relationship, and we are proud to host the event on one of the nation's top courses, The Glen Club."

A home trophy listing each year's individual, team and conference champion is being housed at Bandon Dunes.

Last year, Minnesota won the team title. In the conference challenge, the Pac-10 won the inaugural event with a combined scored of plus-162 to the Big Ten's plus-191. Each conference counted its low six scores of each round to determine the challenge winner.

Next year's event returns to Oregon and Bandon Dunes.