The University of Minnesota men's golf team is ranked 15th by Golfweek in its preseason poll. The Gophers tied for third at the NCAA Championships and welcome back four starters to this years team including 2006 Honorable Mention All-Americans Bronson La'Cassie and Niall Turner. La'Cassie was named to Golfweek's Preseason All-American Second Team. The senior from Brisbane, Australia, won this summer's Western Amateur and finished the summer season ranked as one of the top 20 amateurs.

Minnesota plays host to the Gopher Invitational at Spring Hill Golf Club in Wayzata this weekend. Including the Gophers, the Gopher Invite will feature 20th-ranked Lamar University, Stanford ranked 21st and 24th-ranked Northwestern.

Golfweek preseason top 30 (with final 2005-06 Golfweek rank):
1. Oklahoma State (1)
2. Georgia (2)
3. UCLA (5)
4. Clemson (8)
5. UNLV (10)
6. Brigham Young (9)
7. Arizona State (7)
8. Georgia Tech (4)
9. Wake Forest (11)
10. Texas A&M (6)
11. Washington (17)
12. Duke (16)
13. Arizona (14)
14. Florida (3)
15. Minnesota (23)
16. Georgia State (12)
17. East Tennessee State (19)
18. Kentucky (20)
19. North Carolina (13)
20. Lamar (18)
21. Stanford (40)
22. Coastal Carolina (25)
23. Texas Tech (15)
24. Northwestern (24)
25. Charlotte (26)
26. Baylor (22)
27. Southern California (28)
28. North Carolina State (33)
29. Auburn (27)
30. Alabama (31)

Golfweek Preseason First Team All-Americans
Pablo Martin, Oklahoma State
Jonathan Moore, Oklahoma State
Chris Kirk, Georgia
Rhys Davies, East Tennessee State
Webb Simpson, Wake Forest
Dustin Johnson, Coastal Carolina
Oscar Floren, Texas Tech
Billy Horschel, Florida
Dawie Van Der Walt, Lamar
Cameron Tringale, Georgia Tech

Golfweek Preseason Second Team
Brian Harman, Georgia
Rob Grube, Stanford
Mark Haastrup, Georgia State,
Niklas Lemke, Arizona State,
Martin Ureta, North Carolina
Bronson LaCassie, Minnesota
Daniel Im, UCLA
Alex Prugh, Washington
Kevin Larsen, Georgia Tech