STATESBORO, Ga. ? The Georgia Southern golf team begins the 2007-2008 season at the Gopher Invitational, Saturday (Sep. 15) at the 7,020-yard, par-72 Spring Hill Golf Club in Wayzata, Minn.
The third installment of the tournament will feature a field of 12 teams, including host Minnesota and invitees Arkansas, Georgia Southern, Illinois, Indiana, Lamar (ranked No. 16 in the Golf World/Nike coaches pre-season poll), Michigan State, Notre Dame, Princeton, San Diego, SMU and Wisconsin.
“We've been competing hard among ourselves and we're looking forward to playing somebody else and cheering for each other,” said eighth-year head coach Larry Mays
, who's team features six returning letterwinners and three newcomers.
Participating schools may need to make adjustments to account for local weather conditions. Forecasts predict a 10 percent chance of precipitation with high temperatures ranging between 60 and 70 degrees over the weekend.
“We're looking forward to getting started,” added Mays. “We'll be playing in a little bit different weather than we're used to. It looks like its going to be a bit chilly. So it will be interesting to see how they play.”
Six Eagles will travel to Minnesota this weekend, including senior Chris Smith (Alpharetta, Ga.), juniors Jordan Johnstun (Evans, Ga.) and Drew Lethem (Camdenton, Mo.), and freshmen Logan Blondell (Lakeland, Fla.) and Joe Monte (Chantilly, Va.). Sophomore Matt Deal (Statesboro, Ga.) will also hit the links and compete as an individual.
The event will feature 36 continuous holes of play on Saturday beginning with a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. Sunday's final round tee times will begin at 8 a.m.
Fans can follow the weekend's tournament live on-line at www.Golfstat.com. Post-tournament results and recap will be found at www.GeorgiaSouthernEagles.com.
