Eagles Head to Florida for John Hayt Invitational
2/20/2009 5:20:00 AM | Men's Golf
STATESBORO, GA ? Competing in the John Hayt Invitational for the first time, the Georgia Southern golf team is set to head to the shores of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla. to take part in the 18th annual invitational. Play begins Sunday at the par 72, 6,895 yard Sawgrass Country Club.
The tournament features 15 teams including: UAB, UNC Wilmington, Arizona State, Tulsa, Coastal Carolina, Georgia State, TCU, University of Alabama, Duke, LSU, Tennesee and host North Florida. In addition, three Southern Conference teams will compete as Furman, Chattanooga and Georgia Southern will all look to claim the title that has been won by Alabama the past two outings. Alabama enters the tournament ranked No. 4, while Arizona State is No. 8; Georgia Southern is No. 50.
“It is a great field on a really hard golf course,” said head coach Larry Mays. “Scores are usually high due to bad weather. It really is a grinder's tournament. Par is a good score this week when it usually isn't. I think we've got some grinders going down and hopefully we can bounce back from our under-par performance last week.”
Mays will send a lineup of seniors Drew Lethem and Ryan LeFevre, junior Spencer Fulford, and sophomores Joe Monte and Logan Blondell. In addition to the five, freshman Sean Brannan will travel with the team and compete as an individual in the event.
“Taking these five gives us good opportunity to give three new guys tournament experience and see where we stand with everybody leading into our last few tournaments,” said Mays.
Georgia Southern opened its 2009 season last weekend (Feb. 14-15) when they traveled to the Gator Invitational. The team finished 13th and was led by senior Lethem who finished the tournament tied for 26th. The Eagle carded even one-over par 71s the first two rounds and a three-over par 73 in the third round to finish with 215.
“We are going to try to take the positive out of it,” Mays said.”This time we're going to mix it up, take a few new players, rejuvenate a little bit and hopefully get one player playing well.”
Play begins at 8 a.m. on Sunday and concludes on Tuesday with an awards ceremony following the final round.
The tournament features 15 teams including: UAB, UNC Wilmington, Arizona State, Tulsa, Coastal Carolina, Georgia State, TCU, University of Alabama, Duke, LSU, Tennesee and host North Florida. In addition, three Southern Conference teams will compete as Furman, Chattanooga and Georgia Southern will all look to claim the title that has been won by Alabama the past two outings. Alabama enters the tournament ranked No. 4, while Arizona State is No. 8; Georgia Southern is No. 50.
“It is a great field on a really hard golf course,” said head coach Larry Mays. “Scores are usually high due to bad weather. It really is a grinder's tournament. Par is a good score this week when it usually isn't. I think we've got some grinders going down and hopefully we can bounce back from our under-par performance last week.”
Mays will send a lineup of seniors Drew Lethem and Ryan LeFevre, junior Spencer Fulford, and sophomores Joe Monte and Logan Blondell. In addition to the five, freshman Sean Brannan will travel with the team and compete as an individual in the event.
“Taking these five gives us good opportunity to give three new guys tournament experience and see where we stand with everybody leading into our last few tournaments,” said Mays.
Georgia Southern opened its 2009 season last weekend (Feb. 14-15) when they traveled to the Gator Invitational. The team finished 13th and was led by senior Lethem who finished the tournament tied for 26th. The Eagle carded even one-over par 71s the first two rounds and a three-over par 73 in the third round to finish with 215.
“We are going to try to take the positive out of it,” Mays said.”This time we're going to mix it up, take a few new players, rejuvenate a little bit and hopefully get one player playing well.”
Play begins at 8 a.m. on Sunday and concludes on Tuesday with an awards ceremony following the final round.
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