Oct. 7, 2005

EVANSTON, Ill. -- Fresh off its 2005 Big Ten/Pac-10 Challenge title, Northwestern has little time to savor its championship as the Wildcats head to North Carolina this weekend to take part in Sunday and Monday's Coca-Cola Duke Classic at the Duke Golf Club.

Teams will play a practice round on Saturday, Oct. 8 with the tournament beginning with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. on Sunday. Following 36 holes on Sunday, the tournament concludes with an 18-hole round Monday.

Northwestern is one of 15 teams competing in the field, with a majority of the squads ranked among the top 50 nationally. Besides the Wildcats and host Blue Devils, who are ranked seventh nationally, the field includes: Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, Florida Southern, Michigan State, Minnesota, North Carolina, North Carolina State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, UNC Greensboro, UNC Wilmington, Virginia and Virginia Tech.

Along with top teams comes top players. Northwestern's David Merkow, the Big Ten/Pac-10 Challenge winner, Dillon Dougherty, the 2005 U.S. Amateur finalist, and Chris Wilson, the 2005 Ohio Amateur champion and Western Amateur runner-up, will join 11 other players ranked in the Golfweek top-50 index.

In last year's Coca-Cola Classic, Duke won the event by 13 shots over runner-up North Carolina.