Hokies announce 2017-18 men's golf schedule

New events strengthen already tough schedule

August 22, 2017

BLACKSBURG, Va. – The Virginia Tech men’s golf team has announced the 2017-18 schedule. This season’s slate will feature two new events that, in combination with the traditional events, will once again provide the Hokies with one of the more challenging schedules around.

“Once again, our tournament schedule has us competing in the top events in collegiate golf,” head coach Jay Hardwick said. “We open the season at a new tournament, the Gopher Intercollegiate in Minnesota, which has one of the strongest fields in college golf including defending national champion Oklahoma, and conclude our regular season at another new event, the Stitch Intercollegiate at Macgregor Downs, featuring several teams from the ACC. Our philosophy has always been to pit our players against the nation’s best and this schedule certainly meets that.”

The Hokies open the season at the Gopher Invitational on Sept. 10-11 at the Windsong Farm Golf Club in Independence, Minnesota. Tech has played in an event hosted by the University of Minnesota in the past, but this is the first of two new events on the schedule this season.

Tech then returns to the VCU Shootout on the Tuckahoe Creek Course of the Country Club of Virginia on Sept. 18-19. The Hokies picked up the win in last year’s event and 2017 graduate Joey Lane took home medalist honors. Tech has won four of the last five VCU Shootouts.

Tech returns to the Tar Heel Intercollegiate at the UNC Finley Golf Club in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on Oct. 7-8. The Hokies were a late addition to this event last season, following the rainout at the now defunct Primland Invitational.

The Hokies will once again travel to the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate at the Blackthorn Club on Oct. 13-15. Tech closes out the fall portion of the schedule at the UNCG Bridgestone Invitational on Oct. 28-29 at the East Course of the Grandover Resort in Greensboro, North Carolina.

As has become the norm over the past several seasons, the Hokies will open spring competition at the Puerto Rico Classic in San Juan on Feb. 18-20. This tournament, hosted by Purdue, annually attracts perhaps the top field in all of collegiate golf.

Next up for Tech is the General Hackler Championship, March 10-11 at the Dunes Golf and Beach Club in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. This is the second consecutive year for the Hokies in the event, as Tech finished fifth and rising junior Mark Lawrence Jr., finished fourth in 2017.

The Hokies will return to South Carolina March 24-26, to once again compete in the Furman Intercollegiate, a long-time staple of the Tech schedule. Lawrence was fifth in last year’s event.

The 3M/Augusta State Invitational on March 31-April 1 will have the Hokies face another outstanding field. The regular season will end with the second of the new events, the Stitch Invitational at MacGregor Downs on April 13-14. The event is played at MacGregor Downs Country Club in Cary, North Carolina.

The post-season will begin on April 20-22, as Tech will compete in the 65^th Annual ACC Golf Championship at the Old North State Golf Club in New London, North Carolina. Last year’s ACC Championship was played at Musgrove Mill Golf Course in Clinton, South Carolina, but returns to its long-time traditional location, Old North State Club, this season.

The Hokies will be looking to begin a new streak of NCAA Regional appearances in 2018. This year’s sites are the Lonnie Poole Golf Course in Raleigh, North Carolina, hosted by NC State, the Traditions Club in Bryan, Texas, hosted by Texas A&M, the OSU Scarlett Course in Columbus, Ohio, hosted by Ohio State, the Reunion Resort in Kissimmee, Florida, hosted by UCF, the Jimmy Austin Golf Club in Norman, Oklahoma, hosted by Oklahoma and the Reserve at Spanos Park in Stockton, California, hosted by Pacific.

“Competing in the ACC, one of the toughest leagues in the country, requires the team to compete at the highest level every week and helps to prepare us for the post-season,” Hardwick concluded.

The Hokies return a wealth of experienced players this season, led by Lawrence, who won the 2017 Virginia State Golf Association State Amateur Championship in July and advanced to the semifinals of the U.S. Amateur Golf Championship earlier this month at the Riviera Country Club in Pacific Palisades, California. Rising sophomore Sarit Suwannarut was second on the team in scoring last season and rising junior Logan Yates was Tech’s top performer at the 2017 ACC Championship. This group of returners will be joined by talented freshmen Connor Burgess and Slade Pickering.

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