Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Local support puts SIU men's golf on national stage
08/03/2018 | 9:44:00 | Men's Golf
The Southern Illinois men's golf team hosted its summer fundraiser on Thursday night and Friday afternoon. The fundraiser started with a Thursday evening event at Pinch Penny Pub, followed by nearly 150 supporters--including 30 men's and women's golf alumni (pictured)--playing in Friday's golf outing at Crab Orchard Golf Club.
"This has gotten bigger and bigger each year," head coach Justin Fetcho said. "This is our biggest one yet. I can't thank the community enough for supporting our program."
The support has allowed the program to schedule an impressive tournament slate, expanding from a regional schedule to a national-caliber slate. This year, the support allowed Fetcho to create a special opportunity for the program, especially the seniors who were a part of his first recruiting class.
"When I first got here, we played 10 tournaments, and we drove to all of them. Last year, we flew to five of our 10 tournaments. That wouldn't be possible without this golf fundraiser," Fetcho said. "Looking ahead—and this gives me goosebumps just talking about it—my first recruiting class is going to be seniors this year. I wanted to find something to really reward them for being a part of our program. For the first time in SIU men's history, we're going to get to play a tournament in Hawaii and hopefully give them the kind of student-athlete experience they will never forget for the rest of their lives. None of that would be possible without this event."
The upcoming 2018-19 schedule is not totally complete; but along with the trip to Hawaii, the schedule will include trips to Power-5 tournaments at Indiana, Northwestern, and Notre Dame. In addition, SIU will be a part of the Golfweek Challenge for the fourth-straight year, which includes a team from every conference in the country.
"We wouldn't have the talent on our roster if it wasn't for our tournament schedule. We're getting the players that want to play at the highest level. They want to challenge themselves against the best teams and the best players that they possibly can," Fetcho said.
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"This has gotten bigger and bigger each year," head coach Justin Fetcho said. "This is our biggest one yet. I can't thank the community enough for supporting our program."
The support has allowed the program to schedule an impressive tournament slate, expanding from a regional schedule to a national-caliber slate. This year, the support allowed Fetcho to create a special opportunity for the program, especially the seniors who were a part of his first recruiting class.
"When I first got here, we played 10 tournaments, and we drove to all of them. Last year, we flew to five of our 10 tournaments. That wouldn't be possible without this golf fundraiser," Fetcho said. "Looking ahead—and this gives me goosebumps just talking about it—my first recruiting class is going to be seniors this year. I wanted to find something to really reward them for being a part of our program. For the first time in SIU men's history, we're going to get to play a tournament in Hawaii and hopefully give them the kind of student-athlete experience they will never forget for the rest of their lives. None of that would be possible without this event."
The upcoming 2018-19 schedule is not totally complete; but along with the trip to Hawaii, the schedule will include trips to Power-5 tournaments at Indiana, Northwestern, and Notre Dame. In addition, SIU will be a part of the Golfweek Challenge for the fourth-straight year, which includes a team from every conference in the country.
"We wouldn't have the talent on our roster if it wasn't for our tournament schedule. We're getting the players that want to play at the highest level. They want to challenge themselves against the best teams and the best players that they possibly can," Fetcho said.
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