Oct. 3, 2007

EVANSTON, Ill. - The list of individuals who have participated in the Windon Memorial Golf Classic reads like a who's who of the golf world. From names like Tiger Woods to Luke Donald, Ben Curtis and Hunter Mahan, many prominent golfers have put their skills on display at the Windon prior to stardom at the professional ranks.

Many of today's top collegiate golfers will compete for this year's Windon title when it is held at the Lake Shore Country Club in Glencoe, Ill., Oct. 7-8 and is hosted by Northwestern University. Action begins at 7:30 a.m. on Sunday and 8 a.m. on Monday.

The current Windon Memorial was spearheaded by Bernie Windon and former Northwestern University men's golf coach Jeff Mory in 1992. Their vision quickly turned into a major tournament on the collegiate golf calendar. The original tournament, The Quintessence Classic, was played in 1993. The tournament was renamed after the passing of Mr. Windon, the tournament committee chairman, in December of 1993. To keep Mr. Windon's "quintessential" spirit alive, the participants now play for the Quintessence Trophy.

A total of 13 teams -- four of which finished the spring 2007 season ranked in the top 50 of the Golfweek/Sagarin rankings -- are scheduled to participate in this year's event. The competition will consist of 54 holes of golf -- 36 on Sunday and 18 more on Monday with a practice round on Saturday.

Colt Knost of SMU was last year's medalist while helping guide the Mustangs to the team title.

Participating teams in this year's Windon Memorial include DePaul, Indiana, Kansas, Kent State, Marquette, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Mexico, Northern Illinois, Northwestern, Purdue and defending champion SMU.