Michigan State University Athletics
Sunday, September 1
Harris, Mich. (Sage Run Golf Club)
All Day
Michigan State University
vs
Island Resort Collegiate Invitational
Men’s Golf Ready to Begin New Season This Weekend
8/29/2019 4:14:00 PM | Men's Golf
EAST LANSING – 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 Lubahn returns 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 four or five players that really add to our depth," Lubahn said. "Bradley Smithson looked great in Scotland; Zach Rosendale and Landon Ernst – the newest Spartan from Arkansas – all really look like they're going to contribute, so it's an exciting group.
"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 Spartans will play a total of five tournaments in the fall. A week after the season-opening Island Resort Intercollegiate, MSU returns to the Gopher Invitational for the seventh straight year. The tournament will again take place at Windsong Farm Golf Club in Independence, Minnesota, Sept. 8-9.
After a year off from the tournament, Michigan State heads back to the Inverness Intercollegiate in Toledo, Ohio, Sept. 23-24.
Michigan State will play in the Fighting Irish Classic for the second straight year at Warren Golf Club, Oct. 7-8. The Spartans won the event in 2014.
"The Gopher Invitational is one of the elite events in college golf and a staple in our schedule," Lubahn said. "Inverness has been a pretty much a constant for us and it's a great course. We're going to see a little bit of everything early on – great courses, some of the best teams in college golf and some places we're familiar with."
The final – and familiar – event of the fall will be the Quail Valley Intercollegiate, Oct. 20-21, which the Spartans have won two of the last four seasons.
"The rest of the fall laid out beautifully," Lubahn said. "As far as the fall goes, this is almost like a dream come true to have a schedule that lays out this perfectly because of the spacing and these golf courses."
With MSU hosting one of six NCAA Regionals this spring, the Spartans are eager to get going and build their resume.
"Obviously this is a very important year with us hosting an NCAA regional," Lubahn said. "We're not shying away from it, we're embracing it. When we tee it up on Sunday morning we're thinking already about how we can keep getting better so when those regional selections come out in May we're selected to play at home."
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
A year after leading the Spartans to a program record fourth consecutive NCAA Tournament, Casey Lubahn returns 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 four or five players that really add to our depth," Lubahn said. "Bradley Smithson looked great in Scotland; Zach Rosendale and Landon Ernst – the newest Spartan from Arkansas – all really look like they're going to contribute, so it's an exciting group.
"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 Spartans will play a total of five tournaments in the fall. A week after the season-opening Island Resort Intercollegiate, MSU returns to the Gopher Invitational for the seventh straight year. The tournament will again take place at Windsong Farm Golf Club in Independence, Minnesota, Sept. 8-9.
After a year off from the tournament, Michigan State heads back to the Inverness Intercollegiate in Toledo, Ohio, Sept. 23-24.
Michigan State will play in the Fighting Irish Classic for the second straight year at Warren Golf Club, Oct. 7-8. The Spartans won the event in 2014.
"The Gopher Invitational is one of the elite events in college golf and a staple in our schedule," Lubahn said. "Inverness has been a pretty much a constant for us and it's a great course. We're going to see a little bit of everything early on – great courses, some of the best teams in college golf and some places we're familiar with."
The final – and familiar – event of the fall will be the Quail Valley Intercollegiate, Oct. 20-21, which the Spartans have won two of the last four seasons.
"The rest of the fall laid out beautifully," Lubahn said. "As far as the fall goes, this is almost like a dream come true to have a schedule that lays out this perfectly because of the spacing and these golf courses."
With MSU hosting one of six NCAA Regionals this spring, the Spartans are eager to get going and build their resume.
"Obviously this is a very important year with us hosting an NCAA regional," Lubahn said. "We're not shying away from it, we're embracing it. When we tee it up on Sunday morning we're thinking already about how we can keep getting better so when those regional selections come out in May we're selected to play at home."
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
Players Mentioned
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/ Men's Golf
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