After a two-week hiatus, the No. 11 Stanford men’s golf team will swing back into action on the Farm this weekend to host its only home tournament of the season, the 2008 U.S. Intercollegiate Championship.

Last year, the Cardinal shared the tournament crown with Minnesota with an overall score of 838. Stanford senior Rob Grube — then a junior — fired an eight-under-par score of 202 to take the individual title as well.

The competition will be fierce with 17 top-notch squads in attendance. Besides Stanford, six of the competing teams are ranked in the top 50 in the nation including No. 3 UCLA, No. 5 Southern California, No. 20 Arizona State, No. 33 San Diego State, No. 45 Oregon State and No. 50 Oregon.

“UCLA and USC are always going to be tough to beat no matter where you play them,” coach Conrad Ray said. “With our local knowledge of Stanford and our home course advantage we feel good about our chances of winning. It is hard to beat the Stanford golf course when the weather is beautiful like this. The course stands the test of time and just doesn’t quit.”

Stanford’s team certainly is not a pushover by any means. No. 45 Grube, No. 12 freshman Sihwan Kim, sophomore Jordan Cox, freshman Steve Ziegler and junior Dodge Kemmer are all looking to defend the tournament title in the team competition for the Cardinal. Junior Daniel Lim and freshmen Graham Brockington and Matt Kennernecht will be competing as individuals.

“All of our golfers are very talented,” Ray said. “What’s exciting about this team is when you put the pieces of the puzzle together, we have some real fire power. We are hoping to develop our consistency once the post-season arrives.”

The last tournament Stanford played was the U.S. Collegiate Championship hosted by No. 8 Georgia Tech over Spring Break. This tournament is said to be the “Masters of College Golf” and a good preview of the NCAA Tournament in June. The Cardinal faced 13 teams, 11 of which were ranked amongst the top 40 in the nation.

The weather conditions in Alabama were so severe that play was delayed by 30 minutes each morning to let the course defrost. Though the Stanford team was not used to the cold, the Cardinal put up a good fight until the finish, coming in 11th place after posting a three-round score of 897. Ziegler led the Cardinal,, recording his best career finish at tenth place in the individual ladder — he shot a two-over 218.

“We are really excited for this weekend,” Ray said. “We have had a great couple weeks of preparation. We had a strong final round in Atlanta and we made good progress throughout the tournament there. We also have had some great qualifying scores, so we are excited to be playing at home.”

The Cardinal’s one and only home tournament will take place at the par-70 6,835 yard Stanford Golf Course. The first round will begin on Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m. — the second round is scheduled to begin immediately after the first. The final round will be begin on Sunday morning at 7:30 a.m.