Men's Golf Ready for 2017 Home Opener

Monday, September 18

Memphis, Tenn.

University of Memphis

Memphis Intercollegiate

Photo by: Joe Murphy

Sep 17, 2017 | Men's Golf

MEMPHIS, Tenn. - The Memphis Tiger men's golf team opens play for the 2017-18 season at home, when the squad hosts the Memphis Intercollegiate, hosted at Colonial Country Club.

"I'm excited to see where we are as a team, and starting the season at Colonial is always exciting," said Memphis head coach Blake Smart. "We have a quality field and the course is playing nicely and is in great shape. We've done good prep work and I feel we have a solid game plan to give us a chance coming down the stretch on Tuesday."

Event: Memphis Intercollegiate
When: September 18-19
Where: Colonial Country Club | Memphis, Tenn.
Par: 72
Yardage: 7,235
Live Scoring: BirdieFire
Teams in the Field: Memphis, Arkansas State, Belmont, Fort Wayne, Georgetown, IUPUI, Little Rock, Middle Tennessee State, Stetson, Tennessee State, UT Martin, Western Carolina, Western Kentucky

Starting Holes: Rodi Vlasveld (1B), Brad Bawden (1A), Chase Harris (2B), Borja Martin Torre (2A), Nick Giles (3), Colin Dubnik (16 as an individual), Mikko Kauniskangas (17B as an individual), Jordan Even (17A as an individual).

HISTORY AT THE EVENT

This season marks the 13th consecutive season this tournament has been played. Memphis has been the tournament champion four times, including in the inagural tournament during the 2004-05 season. The Tigers have four of the 10 lowest team tournament scores, and three individuals (Kevin Fortin-Simard, Thomas Perrot, and Lars van Meijel) that rank inside of the top-10 all-time tournament scores.

NEW FACES

Of the eight golfers on the Memphis 2017-18 roster, there is an even split of returnees and newcomers. Among the players back for the Tigers is Nick Giles, whose 75.8 stroke per round average was fourth-best on the squad a season ago. Over the summer, sophomore Colin Dubnik finished just outside of qualifying for the U.S. Open, while Chase Harris (76.9 average in 18 rounds) and Mikko Kauniskangas (eight rounds last season) also return.

Two of the newcomers - Bradley Bawden and Jordan Even - came in from the junior college ranks, with Bawden being named a PING First Team All-America, averaging 72.7 strokes per round. Even was named First Team All-Region after two medalist honors - including at the Regional Championship. Sophomore Rodi Vlasveld was on the team last season and did not play during the year, while Borja Martin Torre - a freshman from San Sebastian, Spain - is also new for the Tigers this season.