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Men's College Golf Comes To Sage Run For Holiday
 The Wildcats feature four returners from last season's squad and will be led by seniors Chris Black (Lisburn, Northern Ireland), Kurtis Fontinha(Penticton, B.C.) and Kyle Pouliot (Gladstone, Mich.). Black missed the fall season last year due to injury but returned for the spring and competed in five events, highlighted by his performance at the Greyhound Invitational where he posted rounds of 75, 75 and 76. Fontinha participated in eight events last year. His season-best outing was at the Saginaw Valley State Invitational at the Cherry Blossom Golf Course where he shot back-to-back rounds of 71. Pouliot enters his senior season coming off a year that saw him compete four times last fall. He post a best round of 73 on the first day of the Doc Spragg Invitational and then added a score of 75 at the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference North Championships. Sophomore Carter Mason (Negaunee, Mich.) looks to make a larger impact this season after competing in two events last year.  The South Dakota State men's golf team begins its 2019-20 season as it hosts the Island Resort Intercollegiate tournament in Escanaba, Mich. this Labor Day weekend, Sept. 1-2. The 54-hole tournament will be held at Sage Run Golf Club, a 72-par 7,375 yard course. The teams will golf 36 holes on Sunday and 18 on Monday with tee times beginning at 7:40 a.m. each day off the first and 10th tees. The tournament will feature a 10-team field. Joining SDSU is Northern Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Detroit, Kentucky, North Florida, UCF, East Carolina and Liberty. This marks the first time that the Jackrabbits are hosting the Island Resort Intercollegiate. The Jacks fall schedule includes four additional tournaments, including the Prairie Club Invitational (Sept. 29-30), which will also be hosted by South Dakota State, in Valentine, Neb. SDSU will compete in the Badger Invitational (Sept. 8-10), Intercollegiate at the Grove (Oct. 6-8) and the Quail Valley Collegiate Invitational (Oct. 20-21). Sixth-year head coach, Casey VanDamme's 2019-20 roster features five returners and five newcomers. The athletes originate from as close as Watertown to as far as Australia and Ireland. Leading the team will be Jacob Otta, who played in all 11 events and recorded a 73.84 stroke average over 31 rounds. Harry Dugganappeared in 10 events, recording a 77.93 stroke average in 28 rounds during his freshman season.  The Michigan State men's golf team will travel north to the Upper Peninsula to play its first tournament of the 2019-20 season this weekend. The Spartans will be on of 10 teams taking part in the Island Resort Intercollegiate in Harris, which is located just west of Escanaba. The tournament will be played at Sage Run Golf Club on Sunday (36 holes) and Monday (18 holes). A year after leading the Spartans to a program record fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament, Casey Lubahnreturns for his ninth season as head coach. The Spartans returned from their summer break in mid-August and took a team trip to Scotland, but are now back on campus and ready to open the fall schedule. "It's going to be exciting to play in the U.P.," Lubahn said. "When the invitations came out we accepted right away because you don't get many chances to play a tournament in Michigan. It will be a nice event up there and it will be special for Dan Ellis with him being from the U.P. "It's a good field on a really hard golf course. Even after being in Scotland for a week we're excited to get right into a competitive event and it's important we get off to a good start." The Spartans return six players from last year's team and welcome three newcomers. Returners James Piot, Troy Taylor II and Andrew Walker were all named to the Big Ten Preseason Watch List. "We're very excited to be returning one of the top players in the Big Ten in James Piot," Lubahn said. "He had a great summer competing in the best events in amateur golf, so we expect him to be our rock this season." Piot, now a junior, was an All-Big Ten first team selection last season and his 71.49 scoring average was the second-lowest in school history. Walker has more career rounds under his belt (74) than any other Spartan on the team, while Taylor emerged as one of the top rookies in the league last season. "Troy and Andrew have been solid this summer and are focused and ready to go," Lubahn said. "Troy is like an old sophomore – he played in every event last year." The Spartans welcome three newcomers in freshmen Bradley Smithson and Pierce Morrissey, along with redshirt sophomore Landon Ernst, who transferred from Arkansas. "We have a lot of the pieces in place; it's a pretty good lineup with all nine of our players. We just need to be really sharp early on here, which is where our focus has been."  The Titans just started school this week, but it will be all business this Labor Day Weekend as the University of Detroit Mercy men's golf team heads up north to compete in the Island Resort Intercollegiate. The two-day, 54-hole event will take place at the par 72, 7,375-yard Sage Run Golf Club in Harris, Michigan, with 36 holes on Sunday, Sept. 1, and the final 18 on Monday as both days will tee off at 7:40 a.m. Fans can follow all the action with live scoring on Golfstat. The 10-team field includes host South Dakota State, Central Florida, East Carolina, Kentucky, Liberty, Michigan State, Northern Michigan, North Florida and Purdue. The event is one of five that the Titans will play in the fall, which will conclude with their Motown Intercollegiate in October. "This first tournament has all the kids excited," said first year head coach Erik Taurence. "We are getting a lot of exposure with a SEC school, a couple of Big Ten schools and southern teams in this first event so they are definitely excited to get up there and play." The Titans have a new coach in Taurence and he has plenty of experience to work with as all eight student-athletes are back from a year ago. "Everyone is returning so that is huge for me as a first-year head coach," said Taurence, who played collegiately at Madonna. "I looked at scores from last year and we definitely have room to improve, but the talent is there." Two of those eight players are seniors in Scott Sparks and Zack Tenerowicz and there are also three juniors in Jonathan Brillati, Bryce Douglas and Drew Tucci. "One of the goals of the fall is to learn all the players and for them to get to know me," said Taurence. "I need to know all the players and see what their needs are. Some can figure things out on their own, while others need to talk through a shot more so a lot of this fall is just a learning process for everyone." Sparks and Tenerowicz have been mainstays in the starting line-up since their freshmen year. Sparks started all nine of the tournaments he saw action in last season and was third on the team with a 76.48 average, leading the team in three events and was third in another three tournaments. He is currently 12th in school history with a 75.99 average in 79 rounds out on the links. Douglas is coming off a great summer amateur season as he saw action in four tournaments and was in the starting line-up once, posting a career-best 77.2 in 2018-19. He shot in the 70's in nine of his 11 rounds on the year, including a career-best 151 at the Butler Spring Invitational. "We have a lot of smart kids and these kids are hard workers, I can already see that," said Taurence. "It is just about working together and getting better every day."  The East Carolina men's golf program opens their 2019-20 season Sunday and Monday, Sept. 1-2, at the Island Resort Intercollegiate at Sage Run, hosted by South Dakota State, in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The two-day, 54-hole tournament will be played at the Sage Run Golf Club, located 13 miles west of Escanaba. The event will feature eight other schools including 2019 NCAA regional participants Kentucky, Liberty, Michigan State, North Florida and Purdue along with Detroit Mercy, Northern Michigan and UCF. The ECU lineup will consist of senior Blake Taylor, juniors Stephen Carroll and Tim Bunten along with sophomores A.J. Beechler and Attie Giles. Taylor and Beechler ranked first and third on the team in scoring average and top 10 finishes last season, and each played all 35 rounds. Taylor posted five top 10 finishes and recorded the second-lowest per round stroke average, 71.97, in school history behind only PGA TOUR player Harold Varner, who averaged 71.25 strokes per round in 2010-11. Beechler registered the lowest per round average by a freshman in school history at 72.83, 14th-lowest overall. He posted three top 10 finishes, tying for seventh three times. Bunten started all nine events that he played last season, while Carroll started eight. Giles, who will be making his first appearance in the five-man lineup, played in in four tournaments as an individual a year ago. The course at Sage Run, designed by Paul Albanese, will play approximately 7,309 yards and par is 72. Live scoring will be available via Golfstat.com. ECU returns all 10 of its lettermen from a year ago, including seniors Chris Akers, Logan Shuping and 2018 all-conference player Patrick Stephenson. Jack Massei and Jimbo Stanley are back for their sophomore campaigns as is redshirt freshman Connor Jones. Jake Calamaro and Chris Sperrazza, who committed to the Pirates during the 2018 fall signing period, are a part of the squad as well. Stephenson enters the 2019-20 season with the fourth-lowest career scoring average in ECU lore, 73.25. He has three career top 10 finishes, including a victory at the 2018 ECU Intercollegiate at Brook Valley. ISLAND RESORT INTERCOLLEGIATE Dates: September 1-2 Course: Sage Run Golf Club Live Scoring: Golfstat.com Par // Yardage: 72 // 7,375 Format: Stroke play, 54 holes; play five, count four Schedule: Sunday – 36 holes with tee times beginning at 7:40 a.m. of the first and 10th tees Monday – 18 holes with tee times beginning at 7:40 a.m. of the first and 10th tees Teams: Detroit Mercy, East Carolina, Kentucky, Liberty, Michigan State, North Florida, Northern Michigan, Purdue, South Dakota State (host) and UCF |
