Southern Illinoise University Athletics
Monday, May 13
Louisville, Ky.
Southern Illinois University
vs
NCAA Regionals | Louisville, Ky.
Men's Golf makes final preparations for NCAA Regionals
05/11/2019 | 9:05:00 | Men's Golf
CARBONDALE, Ill. — The Southern Illinois men's golf team is making its final preparations for next week's NCAA Regional tournament at the University of Louisville Golf Club. The 13-team competition takes place Monday through Wednesday with 18 holes each day.
The field features five teams currently ranked in the Top 25 by Golfstat — No. 1 Oklahoma State, No. 11 Auburn, No. 13 North Florida, No. 21 Louisville and No. 25 Baylor. Arkansas State, Iowa State, West Virginia, Arizona, Mississippi State, New Mexico, Jacksonville State and SIU make up the rest of the field.
The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams will advance to the finals, May 23-29, at the Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The Salukis advanced to Regionals by winning the Missouri Valley Conference Championship on April 23 and claiming the league's automatic bid. This will be just the second NCAA postseason appearance in school history. The first was in 2016, when Southern placed 13th out of 13 teams.
"Now, it's trying to get to the next step, getting to the National Championship," said SIU head coach Justin Fetcho. "We're getting players who buy-in, put in all the work and effort, and we've improved every year because of that."
Southern will use the same five-man rotation of Peyton Wilhoit (71.8), Luke Gannon (72.1), Matthis Besard (72.4), Hunter York (73.4) and Frankie Thomas (74.3) that won the MVC title. If the season ended today, SIU's top-three golfers would have the top-three single-season stroke averages in school history.
Gannon and Wilhoit were freshmen on the 2016 squad, and both believe the team will fare better this time around.
"We had a little too low of expectations my freshman year, didn't really think we could compete," Gannon said. "Even though we had a solid schedule, it wasn't near what it is now. It won't be nearly as culture-shocking as it was our freshman year."
In mid-April, the Salukis finished sixth at the Purdue Boilermaker Invitational, finishing ahead of BCS programs Wisconsin, Notre Dame and Indiana.
"I don't feel like there's anything special we have to do," Wilhoit said. "On an individual level, I'm just trying to sharpen the putter a little bit. Everyone has their own little thing they're trying to sharpen, but if we go play golf and don't beat ourselves, we'll be fine. Our team is battle-tested."
The par-72, Spencer Holt-designed golf course measures 7,192 yards and features bentgrass fairways and greens.
"I think this golf course is going to be set up tough, but it will be set up well for us," said Fetcho. "You have to drive it well, you have to manage the golf course well, and you have to be tough, and those are things we've done well, especially late in the season."
The team has used Google Earth to scout out optimal course targets and will play a practice round on Sunday to prepare for the event. They enter the tournament playing their best golf, having finished 12-under par on the back nine of the MVC Championships.
"I think our strong finish at the MVC's works to our advantage in that we can carry momentum into Regionals," said York.
The field features five teams currently ranked in the Top 25 by Golfstat — No. 1 Oklahoma State, No. 11 Auburn, No. 13 North Florida, No. 21 Louisville and No. 25 Baylor. Arkansas State, Iowa State, West Virginia, Arizona, Mississippi State, New Mexico, Jacksonville State and SIU make up the rest of the field.
The low five teams and the low individual not on those teams will advance to the finals, May 23-29, at the Blessings Golf Club in Fayetteville, Arkansas.
The Salukis advanced to Regionals by winning the Missouri Valley Conference Championship on April 23 and claiming the league's automatic bid. This will be just the second NCAA postseason appearance in school history. The first was in 2016, when Southern placed 13th out of 13 teams.
"Now, it's trying to get to the next step, getting to the National Championship," said SIU head coach Justin Fetcho. "We're getting players who buy-in, put in all the work and effort, and we've improved every year because of that."
Southern will use the same five-man rotation of Peyton Wilhoit (71.8), Luke Gannon (72.1), Matthis Besard (72.4), Hunter York (73.4) and Frankie Thomas (74.3) that won the MVC title. If the season ended today, SIU's top-three golfers would have the top-three single-season stroke averages in school history.
Gannon and Wilhoit were freshmen on the 2016 squad, and both believe the team will fare better this time around.
"We had a little too low of expectations my freshman year, didn't really think we could compete," Gannon said. "Even though we had a solid schedule, it wasn't near what it is now. It won't be nearly as culture-shocking as it was our freshman year."
In mid-April, the Salukis finished sixth at the Purdue Boilermaker Invitational, finishing ahead of BCS programs Wisconsin, Notre Dame and Indiana.
"I don't feel like there's anything special we have to do," Wilhoit said. "On an individual level, I'm just trying to sharpen the putter a little bit. Everyone has their own little thing they're trying to sharpen, but if we go play golf and don't beat ourselves, we'll be fine. Our team is battle-tested."
The par-72, Spencer Holt-designed golf course measures 7,192 yards and features bentgrass fairways and greens.
"I think this golf course is going to be set up tough, but it will be set up well for us," said Fetcho. "You have to drive it well, you have to manage the golf course well, and you have to be tough, and those are things we've done well, especially late in the season."
The team has used Google Earth to scout out optimal course targets and will play a practice round on Sunday to prepare for the event. They enter the tournament playing their best golf, having finished 12-under par on the back nine of the MVC Championships.
"I think our strong finish at the MVC's works to our advantage in that we can carry momentum into Regionals," said York.
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
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