VIRGINIA TECH Golf Guide | 2018 Edition

2 W ith NCAA individual qualifiers Mark Lawrence Jr. and Sarit Suwannarut returning along with several proven upperclassmen and a highly talented group of incoming players, expectations were certainly high for the men’s golf team this season. The Hokies opened their schedule with an event they had not been to in several years, the Gopher Invitational, hosted by the University of Minnesota at acclaimed Windsong Farm Golf Club in Independence, Minn. Nine of the teams that competed in the tournament were ranked inside the Top 50 at the end of the fall season, including the defending national champion. While the team played well at times, they never managed to get in contention and ultimately finished 11th, their lowest finish of the fall season. The team rebounded the following week with a runner-up performance at the Janney VCU Shootout in Richmond, with three players finishing inside the Top 20 individually. The Tar Heel Intercollegiate in Chapel Hill, N.C. was next on the schedule, and Tech opened with a round of 17-under-par, their best individual round of the fall season, to take a four stroke lead. Unfortunately, they could not keep the momentum going and despite posting their lowest 54-hole score of the fall with subsequent rounds of 290 and 287, the Hokies finished in seventh place in the tightly bunched field. The team then finished ninth among another strong field at the Bank of Tennessee at Blackthorn. After a slow start the first two rounds they shot a final round 276, 12-under-par, seven shots better than any team that day. They once again concluded the fall season at the UNCG Grandover Collegiate, finishing seventh. Overall, there were some fine team and individual performances throughout the fall and they will continue working hard to improve those results in the spring. This year’s squad is very balanced across graduation classes, with two seniors, two juniors, two sophomores and two freshmen.