The Washington men’s golf team will look to turn their season around this week, as they will compete as the host school in the NCAA West Regional Championship today through Saturday. The 54-hole event will take place at the par-72, 7,111-yard Gold Mountain Golf Club in Bremerton, Wash.

Although this is the 13th consecutive regional appearance for the 21st-seeded Huskies, they certainly come into the tournament labeled the underdog. There are 27 teams competing in the regional and only the top 10 advance to the national tournament in West Lafayette, Ind., at the end of the month.

Last season was the first time in nine years that the Dawgs did not advance to the national tournament, as they finished 14th in the regional qualifier.

The Huskies will look to senior Zach Bixler for the inspiration this week; he is the only golfer on the roster to compete in a regional prior to this season.

“Zach will lead us at Regionals,” coach Matt Thurmond said. “He finished second on that same course in the fall and his game is coming around overall. He is our only guy who has played in a regional and he will be ready for the pressure.”

If the Huskies are going to pull off the upset and advance to the national tournament, they will need every advantage they can get. Being the host school for the tournament may be the extra edge that the Dawgs need to get over the hump.

“There’s definitely an advantage in hosting the tournament,” junior John Wise said. “We have played the course many times. We’ve been able to go over and play the course after class the last few months and just get more rounds under our belts. And aside from that, it’s nice to be around home and have our families and friends out to root us on.”

Bixler said it is helpful to know the course so well and to “have played on it many times.”

The biggest key for the Huskies this week will simply be saving as many strokes as possible to help ensure a low score.

“Every shot is so important in team golf,” Wise said. “Even when you aren’t on top of your game, every shot you can shave from your score is important [to] the success of the team as a whole.”