Tournament Name: Thomas Sharkey Individual Collegiate
Dates: Feb. 5-6
Host: Georgia Southern
Location: Statesboro, Ga.
Format: 36 holes Sunday, 18 Monday - shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. both days.
Georgia Southern Lineup (scoring average)
Brantley Baker (12 rds, 71.33)
Colin Bowles (season debut)
Hayden Carner (9 rds, 73.33)
Parker Claxton (3 rds, 73.00)
Lindsey Cordell (season debut)
Luke Dasher (3 rds, 76.00)
Hogan Ingram (12 rds, 72.17)
Luke Koenig (3 rds, 73.33)
Georgia Southern hosts the seventh playing of the Thomas Sharkey Individual Collegiate at Georgia Southern University Golf Course Feb. 5-6. Eight Eagles will compete in the event, matching the most for Georgia Southern in the history of the tournament. The field features individuals from Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Liberty, Marshall, Middle Tennessee, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Ohio State, South Carolina, USCB, Tennessee, Virginia and West Virginia.
Formerly called the GS Individual Collegiate, the Eagles renamed the event the Thomas Sharkey Individual Collegiate in 2021 to honor the memory of Sharkey, who played for the Eagles from 2009-11 and was tragically killed in a house fire in his native Scotland in the summer of 2011. The Georgia Southern golf program has a memorial stone dedicated to him at its practice facility, and Sharkey's locker has his name in it in memory of him. After redshirting the 2009-10 season, Sharkey played in six events in the 2010-11 campaign. His best finish came when he placed 32nd in a loaded field in the 2011 Schenkel Invitational.
Georgia Southern's
Mason Williams won last year's tournament, firing a 66 in the final round in his season debut after missing the fall season with an injury. Current Eagles
Brantley Baker (T7),
Hogan Ingram (T12),
Luke Dasher (T32) and
Colin Bowles (40th) all played in the event.
Following the tournament, Georgia Southern opens team competition at the Gator Invitational in Gainsville, Florida, for the 22nd consecutive season Feb. 11-12.
About Georgia Southern University Golf Course:
The Georgia Southern University Golf Course at University Park is an 18-hole championship course opened in October 2013. The Eagle men's golf program has hosted the Thomas Sharkey Individual Collegiate (formerly the Georgia Southern Individual Collegiate) at the course annually since 2017. The men's program also hosted the Bash in the Boro in the fall of 2020, and the women's program hosted The Strutter at the course in 2019 and 2021.
The 167-acre tract of land is located six miles south of Georgia Southern's main campus in a residential area of Bulloch County. The course is 6,900 yards from the championship tees and includes a total of five sets of tees at each hole to accommodate a variety of player skill levels.
The construction of the golf course included the renovation of the 8,000 square foot clubhouse, an addition of a 10,000 square foot maintenance and golf cart storage facility, and a complete practice facility. The clubhouse will house a multi-purpose/meeting room, a café, golf shop, and administrative offices. The practice facility includes a 30-station practice range, chipping green, and a 10,000 square foot practice putting green.