Salukis in Ohio for Bearcat Invitational

Monday, September 30

Cincinnati, OH

Southern Illinois University

Bearcat Invitational

09/28/2019 | 9:50:00 | Men's Golf

By: By Alex Underwood, SIUSalukis.com

BEARCAT INVITATIONAL

Dates	Sept. 30-Oct. 1 (Monday-Tuesday)
Host	University of Cincinnati
Course	Coldstream Country Club
Course Par/Yardage	Par 71, 7,150 yards
Live Scoring	Golfstat.com
Teams	Arkansas, Cincinnati, Illinois State, Kentucky, Lamar, Louisiana Tech, Louisville, Miami (Ohio), Middle Tennessee, Penn State, Southern Illinois, Wisconsin, Xavier
Lineup	Frankie Thomas, Matthis Besard, Sean Mullan, Markus Wilhelmsen, Vikar Jonasson

The Southern Illinois men's golf program is set for the Bearcat Invitational at Coldstream Country Club in Cincinnati, Ohio. The invite, hosted by Cincinnati, will go from Monday through Tuesday (Sept. 30-Oct. 1) on the par 71, 7,150-yard course.

"We have a young squad again this week, but I am excited about the men that are traveling to Cincinnati," head coach Justin Fetcho said. "They have been doing some really good things lately and it is just a matter of them believing in themselves and their abilities. If they can go out and pick smart targets and have no fear, we are going to have a great week."

The Salukis join a 13-team field that includes Arkansas, Kentucky, Louisville, Louisiana Tech, Penn State, Wisconsin and conference opponent Illinois State. Ten of the 13 teams rank top-100 in the golfweek.com rankings and four teams competed in NCAA Regional action in 2019.

The first 36 holes will start on Monday in a shotgun start at 8:45 a.m CT. The final round will be on Tuesday in a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m. CT. Live stats for each round can be found here.

Frankie Thomas, Matthis Besard, Sean Mullan, Markus Wilhelmsen and Vikar Jonasson will represent SIU in Cincinnati. Thomas, Wilhelmsen and Mullan have posted top-10 finishes this season and four of the five golfers have shot under-par in one or more rounds.

SIU is coming off a 16th place finish at the Graeme McDowell Invitational. Thomas led the Salukis in the individual standings for the second-straight tournament, as he tied for 17th (E) out of the 100-man field. Besard was close behind at a tie for 27th (+3).

"We are still learning about our young team," Fetcho said. "I think we learned a lot about ourselves in our last event and what we need to continue to improve on to get better. We have to have more fight on the golf course and take more pride in our preparation and being a part of this program. I am looking forward to seeing us handle the adversity better this week as we know there are going to be some moments on the course when the doubt wants to creep in and we have to play from strength instead of letting the doubts take over."

For the latest updates on the Saluki golf program, follow the team on Twitter and Instagram @SIU_MGolf and on Facebook at Saluki Men's Golf.