Men's Golf | 3/15/2017 2:25:00 PM
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Live scoring |
Pairings
Tournament Name: Schenkel Invitational
Host: Georgia Southern
Location: Statesboro, Ga.
Dates: March 18-20
Course: Forest Heights Country Club
Par: 72 (6,962 yards)
Format: 54 holes (18 Friday, 18 Saturday, 18 Sunday)
Tee Times: 9 a.m. Friday and Saturday and 8 a.m. Sunday
Field: UAB, College of Charleston, East Tennessee State,Florida, Georgia Southern, Iowa, Jacksonville, Kansas State, Kentucky, Lipscomb, NC State, North Florida, Notre Dame and Vanderbilt. |
STATESBORO, Ga. – Georgia Southern men's golf coach
Carter Collins knew when he made the 2016-17 schedule that the first three events of the spring would be some of the Eagles' toughest tests of the season.
The spring-opening SunTrust Gator Invitational in February featured nine top-40 teams in the country, and the Eagles followed that by playing in the Palmetto Intercollegiate against another four top-40 squads.
Georgia Southern played well in both events, taking two sixth-place finishes, which helped the Eagles move up the rankings. The final event in this difficult stretch will be at the Eagles' home course.
Seven top-50 teams, including No. 1 Florida and No. 2 Vanderbilt, travel to Statesboro and Forest Heights Country Club this week to make up yet another NCAA Regional type field for the Schenkel Invitational. The tournament runs Friday through Sunday with 18 holes each day. Tee times off holes 1 and 10 start at 9 a.m. Friday and Saturday and at 8:30 a.m. Sunday, and the third annual Schenkel Kids Clinic kicks things off Wednesday at 4:30 p.m.
Georgia Southern will go with the same lineup it used in the Palmetto, where all five Eagles finished in the top half of that 18-team, 90-player field.
Jake Storey led the way by placing 15th,
Cody O'Toole tied for 26th and
Steven Fisk tied for 30th.
The Schenkel is one of the most unique tournaments in college golf with bleachers on some holes and galleries of fans throughout the course. It can be a little intimidating the first time around along with plenty of tricky greens that play fast. Fisk and
Archer Price were in the lineup for last year's Schenkel, and Storey has been in the lineup for the last two. That experience should pay dividends and give the Eagles an advantage over first-time participants.
"The three things that draw teams to the Schenkel and make it one of the most unique and attractive events in the country is the overwhelming community hospitality/support, the strength of the field, and Forest Heights Country Club," said Collins. "Forest Heights is a unique golf course that has that Augusta topography and landscape to it. Although you need to make birdies to be competitive, it has some difficulty on the greens and that makes it a good test every day."
The Eagles have had plenty of success in the Schenkel recently after winning it for the first time in school history in 2014. Georgia Southern followed that up by shooting its lowest score ever in 2015 and tying for third, and the Eagles have placed in the top-10 for four straight seasons, something they had not accomplished since doing it 11 straight times from 1971-81. Collins likes the start his team has put together so far this spring and the progress they have made throughout the season.
"This team continues to grow and get better each week, and I can't wait to see where we are heading," he said.
Georgia Southern Athletics provides up-to-date information on all its sports through its official website, GSEagles.com, through social media channels facebook.com/GSAthletics, twitter.com/GSAthletics, iOS app Georgia Southern Eagles and Android app Eagles GATA. Tickets to Georgia Southern athletics events can be purchased by visiting GSEagles.com/tickets.
