APSU Sports Information
Clarksville, TN – One of the fall’s deepest tournament’s, at one of the nation’s most prestigious courses, awaits Austin Peay State University men’s golf at the Inverness Intercollegiate, beginning Monday at Toledo’s Inverness Club.
The Governors will make their fourth consecutive trek to Toledo’s fall home tournament, with two new faces in the lineup after last week’s opener at the Joe Feaganes Invitational.Senior Erik Hedberg is the only holdover from last season’s appearance at Inverness; he finished 74th overall (82-84-83-249).
The prestigious ground at the Inverness Club has hosted four U.S. Opens and two PGA Championships since being founded in 1903. It was rated one of Golf Digest’s “Top 100 courses in the US” in 2015.
“Anytime you get to play at one of the top 100 golf courses in the world you are going to be excited,” said head coach Robbie Wilson. “It is such a great experience for our student-athletes to play a great course against some of the best teams in the nation.”
Hedberg, the Governors top finisher a week ago, slots in as the No. 1 this week, with junior Justin Arens and freshman Austin Lancaster serving as No. 2 and No. 3. Arens, an Ohio native, makes a return to his home state—he competed at Inverness as a freshman in 2014.
Freshman Alex Vegh, who had a solid showing as the individual last week in West Virginia, will be No. 4 in the lineup this week. Sophomore Sean Butscher will make his season debut as the No. 5.
“If you look back at the history of Inverness and major championships played there, the guys that have won have all driven the ball well,” Wilson said. “You need to be attacking the greens from the fairways or we will be making a lot of bogeys. That’s the goal and key for playing well.”
The competition at Inverness will be some of the best Austin Peay faces in 2016-17. The Governors will face host Toledo and a field that includes Auburn, Ball State, Bowling Green, Duke, Miami, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Penn State, Saint Mary’s and Virginia. Auburn (15th), Virginia (22nd) and Duke (25th) finished 2016 ranked in the GolfStat.com top-25.
The Governors get a few weeks off after Inverness. Their next tournament will be the Skyhawk Invitational, October 3rd-4th, at Paris Landing Golf Course in Buchanan, Tennessee.