Salukis open season at Racer Invitational

Monday, September 9

Murray, KY

Southern Illinois University

Murray State Racer Invitational

09/08/2019 | 3:45:00 | Men's Golf

By: By Alex Underwood, SIUSalukis.com

Murray State Racer Invitational

Dates	Sept. 9-10
Host	Murray State University
Course	Miller Memorial Golf Course
Course Par/Yardage	6,601 yards, Par 71
Live Scoring	Not available
Teams	Alabama A&M, Austin Peay (Individuals), Bethel (TN), Chicago State, Eastern Illinois, Evansville, Green Bay, IUPUI, John A. Logan, Murray State, Arkansas Pine-Bluff, Southern Illinois, Southern Indiana, Tennessee State, UT Martin
Lineup	Matthis Besard, Frankie Thomas, Andrew Thornton, Markus Wilhelmsen, Riley Klingelberg, Tom Cleaton, Vikar Jonasson, Birgir Magnusson, Sean Mullan

The Southern Illinois men's golf program is set to open the 2019-20 season at the Murray State Racer Invitational from September 9-10. The invite will be held at the Miller Memorial Golf Course in Murray Ky.

"We are very excited to get the season started and we look forward to starting on a strong note in the first event," head coach Justin Fetcho said. "This event is unique for us because we are bringing all nine players to compete when you normally only get to bring five. As a coach, I'm excited to see everyone compete in a tournament environment this week."

Fourteen teams will compete at the Racer Invite. The field includes Missouri Valley Conference opponent Evansville and Ohio Valley Conference teams Austin Peay, Eastern Illinois, Murray State, Tennessee State and UT Martin. SIU holds the top ranking (123) out of the 14-team field according to the latest golfstat.com team rankings.

The first 36 holes will start on Monday in a shotgun start at 8:30 a.m CT. The final round will be on Tuesday in a shotgun start at 9 a.m. CT.

All nine Saluki golfers will travel to the Racer Invite. Matthis Besard, Frankie Thomas, Andrew Thornton, Markus Wilhelmsen and Riley Klingelberg were selected to the five-man lineup. Competing as individuals for SIU are Tom Cleaton, Vikar Jonasson, Birgir Magnusson and Sean Mullan.

Southern returns six golfers from last year's squad that won its second MVC Championship in the last four years. Both Besard and Thomas competed in the MVC Championship and NCAA Louisville Regional. Cleaton, Jonasson, Mullan and Wilhelmsen are expected to play a larger role in their second year at SIU.

Klingelberg, Thornton and Magnusson enter their first season with the Salukis. Klingelberg and Thornton had outstanding prep careers and are freshmen, while Magnusson spent the last two years at NAIA Bethel College (KS).

Of the nine Saluki golfers, eight are in their first or second season with the program. Thomas, a senior, is the lone golfer who has been with program for more than two seasons.

"In our top five, we have a very young group with two freshmen and two sophomores," Fetcho said. "While two of the players competed in a NCAA Regionals for us last year, we still have a lot of Division 1 collegiate inexperience in the lineup. We will be putting a strong emphasis on staying patient, playing the correct way and understanding that we can't focus on the things we can't control."

Since Fetcho's arrival to Southern in 2014, the Salukis' have won its season-opening event twice. The most recent opening team win was last year at the 2018 Fuzzy Zoeller Intercollegiate, where SIU shot a record-breaking three-round total of 836 (-28). Current Saluki Besard shot -9 to win his first-ever tournament and Thomas finished T-2 (-8).

"We've had a great few weeks of practice and qualifying and I'm looking forward to seeing our guys continue all the good things we have been doing and learn from the things where we can see improvement," Fetcho said. "Regardless of the results, we will learn about ourselves this week and use it to make us stronger as the season progresses."

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.