ABOUT CHATTANOOGA GOLF 
 
CHATTANOOGA—The Chattanooga Mocs are back on the tee early in 2025 with a trip to the West Coast. The Mocs tee off Monday in Southwestern Invitational in the Los Angelos area in one of the best fields in college golf.
 

They tackle Sherwood Country Club in Thousand Oaks. There are two top 10 programs – (5) Texas & (10) UCLA – and two others in the top 15 in (14) Florida and (15) Vanderbilt.
 
The format is 18 holes per day for the 14-team field beginning Monday and ending on Wednesday. The past medalists include current and past PGA TOUR winners such as Corey Pavin (UCLA), Dan Forsman (Arizona State), Willie Wood (Oklahoma State), Sam Randolph (USC), Brian Watts (Oklahoma State), Billy Mayfair (Arizona State), Jason Gore (Pepperdine), Paul Casey (Arizona State), Patrick Cantlay (UCLA), Maverick McNealy (Stanford), Sahith Theegala (Pepperdine) and *checks notes* Tiger Woods (Stanford).
 

Each round begins at Noon, Eastern time, with teams leading off holes 1 & 10 all three days. The Mocs are paired with USC and Duke starting at 12:20 p.m., Monday starting on 10.
 
Tournament 5: Southwestern Invite
Dates: Jan. 27-29 | Format: 18/day | Host: Pepperdine
Course: Sherwood CC; Par 71; 7,081 yards | Location: Thousand Oaks, Calif.
Field: Chattanooga, (11) Arizona, Cal, (10) UCLA, (24) Duke, (14) Florida, UNLV, (19) Pepperdine, San Diego State, San Jose State, USC, (5) Texas, (15) Vanderbilt & Washington
 
Resources: Stats/Notes
 
How to Follow
Scoring: Scoreboard
Socials: Twitter/X: @GoMocsMGLF | Instagram: @GoMocsMGLF
 
Lineup
Camden Braidech – Avg.: 72.25
Ethan Whitaker – Avg.: 75.08
Carson Johnson – Avg.: 75.33
Aidan Cohl – 1st start
Braedon Wear – Avg.: 74.00
 
What to Know

• Cohl is a mid-year transfer from Ole Miss. He comes to the Scenic City with 3.5 years of eligibility remaining as a redshirt freshman.
• The Mocs lineup earned their trip to the West Coast via a 4-round qualifying event in the harsh January weather.
• There are seven top 25 teams in the tournament with 11 of the 14 schools in the top 50 nationwide.
• Braidech won earlier this season in the squad’s title sweep at the Qubein Cup in Greensboro, N.C. Should he capture another win in 2024-25, he’ll join Bryce Ledford (2, 2004-05), Jonathan Hodge (3, 2007-08), Stephan Jaeger (3, 2011-12) & A.J. Lintunen (2, 2020-21) as the only Mocs with multiple medalist honors in a single season.
• The team is on quite an eagle binge with at least one on a counting card in five of the last six rounds including four total at Steelwood.
• Coach Blaine Woodruff came to Chattanooga in 2022 from Pepperdine where he was the assistant coach under current head coach Michael Beard. The pair led the Waves to the 2021 National Championship and a runner-up finish in 2022.
• Boss Move? Pepperdine assistant coach Nick Robinson was Woodruff’s assistant at Chattanooga over the last two seasons before taking his bosses’ old gig under his old boss.

 
What They’re Saying: Coach Blaine Woodruff on…
Going back to Pepperdine’s home tournament:
“Really excited about going back to North LA and the old stomping grounds. Sherwood is a fantastic tract and Michael Beard and Pepperdine do a great job hosting. Very appreciative of them for having us. It’ll definitely bring back memories for me, we had some great times, were fortunate enough to win a National Title, and most importantly I met my wife during my time there. Pepperdine and this event will always be special to me.”
 
The “Q School” competition for the 5 travel spots through adverse weather:
“Probably the hardest three weeks I’ve had as a coach in a long time. We had to get really creative with our prep. Can’t thank Hoagie (asst. coach Ryan Hogan) and Chip (Ward)/Tim (Lawson) out at the facility enough in the way they helped our guys get dialed in. Also, gotta give our guys credit too. We qualified and practiced in around freezing temps for about two weeks during this winter storm outside of our team practice trip. I never heard one complaint. This is a tough and gritty bunch, and they showed it in their efficient prep for this event. They’re more ready than anyone.”
 
The benefits of such a long trip to future tournament plans:
“If it doesn’t challenge you, it won’t change you. Our goal is to grow every day, as players and as people. While it would be easier to stay in the southeast and play on Bermuda (grass) and have easy travel, events like these prepare us and sharpen us for our long term goals as a program. We’ve gotta continue getting more comfortable with being uncomfortable. Looking forward to the great opportunity we have this week.”
 
Tournament History
First entry
 
Next Up
Feb. 3-4: Battle at Briar’s Creek | G.C. at Briar’s Creek | Johns Island, S.C. (College of Charleston)
 
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