News

ERAU Eagle Golf Team Heading to China

By Ray Newton
Prescott, Ariz – After only three years of intercollegiate play, the Embry Riddle Aeronautical University golf team is going international. The men and women of the Eagle golf team accepted an invitation to compete in the prestigious Beijing, China, Shichahai Sports School-sponsored golf tourney, June 4-14.
Golf coach Kim Haddow said the 11-member squad—five women, six men—“…will have the experience of a lifetime. Traveling abroad and experiencing Chinese culture while we’re enjoying a golf match—what better way to spend 10 days in June.”
Haddow said the Beijing Shichahai Sports Program is one of only a few in China which is authorized by the Chinese government to host competitions for international students.
“Being invited to compete at a school which annually trains approximately 5,000 student athletes is truly a unique experience for the ERAU students. That school has trained 33 world champions and seven Olympic champions in its 56-year history,” she said. “We’ve extended an invitation to be their host in March 2015. We’re excited to have them visit ERAU and Prescott,” said coach Haddow.
ERAU chancellor Frank Ayers praised head coach Kim Haddow and the scholar-athletes who will be competing. “We are so proud of Coach Haddow and assistant coach Mike Haddow and the level to which they have brought our intercollegiate golf program in just three years. We are pleased to build bridges among student athletes from China and here at Embry Riddle. What’s more, we’re excited to host China’s team in Prescott next March,” Ayers said.
The Eagle team has four golfers from Arizona, three from California, and one each from Washington, Virginia, Colorado and Japan-Canada. The golf team competes in the 10-school Cal-Pac Conference, one of the largest Division II leagues in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA). The Eagles’ men’s team won the conference championship in 2013. It also finished 18th at the NAIA National Champion Tourney. The men were named the NAIA academic national champions in 2013. The women’s golf team broke into the NAIA Top 25 Coaches Poll in late March. The women have earned a No. 20 ranking nationally.