Photo by: Hardy Meredith | SFA Photography
Men’s Golf to Compete in Four Tournaments this Fall
9/15/2017 8:00:00 AM | Men's Golf
The ‘Jacks travel to Louisiana, Kentucky and Arkansas twice this fall as SFA prepares for its spring championship season with four high-level tournaments
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Stephen F. Austin men's golf team will take on four different courses this fall, playing in tournaments across three states as part of its non-championship season. Led by 12th-year head coach Trey Schroeder, the Lumberjacks will begin their four-tournament fall slate next week at the Jim Rivers Intercollegiate in Ruston, Louisiana.
Coming off a second-place showing at the 2017 Southland Conference Championships this past April, the 'Jacks appear to be poised for another strong season in 2017-18. SFA landed just four shots off the league title last spring to earn its best result at the conference championship since winning the Southland in 1999. The 'Jacks have returned two of their top golfers from a year ago, while adding plenty of newcomers to the squad with four true freshmen.
Hosted by Louisiana Tech, the Jim Rivers Intercollegiate will be the first test for this year's team as the freshmen will get their first taste of collegiate golf. The two-day tournament will get underway this Monday, Sept. 18, with 36 holes of play and will continue Tuesday, Sept. 19, with an additional 18 holes at the Squire Creek Country Club. Following their short stay in the Pelican State, the 'Jacks will take 10 days off from competition before traveling to Simpsonville, Kentucky, for the University of Louisville's Cardinal Challenge. Held at the state-of-the-art University of Louisville Golf Club, the three-day, 54-hole challenge will take place Friday-Sunday, Sept. 29-Oct. 1.
SFA will compete in a pair tournaments the final two weeks of October to wrap up its fall slate of play, traveling twice to the state of Arkansas. First, the 'Jacks will take on the Little Rock Intercollegiate held at the Chenal Country Club Monday-Tuesday, Oct. 23-24. The two-day, 54-hole tournament will be hosted by Little Rock in Little Rock, Arkansas. Just five days later, SFA will find itself back in Arkansas, this time traveling to El Dorado for Louisiana-Monroe's Duck Commander Intercollegiate. Taking place Sunday-Tuesday, Oct. 29-Oct. 31, the three-day, 54-hole tournament will be held at the Mystic Creek Golf Club.
Following fall competition, the 'Jacks will have the winter off from tournament play before beginning their spring championship season in February.
SFA's two returning letter winners from a year ago, junior Angelo Leyvani and senior Blake Stock, look to continue where they left off last spring after having strong 2016-17 campaigns. A native of San Antonio, Texas (Thomas A. Adison H.S.), Leyvani averaged a score of 73.87 last year, 15th-best in program history, and claimed three top-10 and four top-20 finishes. Earning All-Southland Third Team honors, Leyvani was one of two Lumberjacks to compete in all 31 rounds. Stock, a native of Hewitt, Texas (Midway H.S.), had the third-lowest scoring average on the team in 2016-17 with a 74.23 mark as he registered seven rounds of par-or-better golf. His 9-under 65 at the Bob Sitton Invitational tied for the second-lowest round in program history. Stock captured the 2017 Colin Montgomerie Spring Invitational individual title and posted three other top-10 and one top-20 finishes.
The 'Jacks will have four new faces on the course this year with true freshmen Steven Fabik, Trey Gillingwater, Max Kettler and Andy Lopez prepared to contribute immediately this fall. Junior Jake Hendrix returns to the program for his junior year after not competing last spring. A native of Austin, Texas (Home School), Hendrix competed in six rounds for SFA last fall at the Jim Rivers Intercollegiate and the Duck Commander Intercollegiate, registering a 79.33 scoring average. Fabik hails from Carrollton, Texas, and Hebron High School, while Gillingwater, a native of Austin, Texas, is both a 5A and 6A state champion at Westlake High School where he claimed all-district honors his final three years and was a Texas State Amateur qualifier as a senior. From Southlake, Texas (Carroll H.S.), Kettler is also a 6A state champion and a was a first-team all-district and first-team all-state performer his senior year. Kettler finished 8th at the Cotton States Amateur and captured first place at the Texas North Amateur with scores of 68, 71 and 67 in the three rounds. A native of Dallas, Texas, Lopez helped Plano West High School to a 6A state championship as a junior in 2016 and finished third individually at the state championship as a sophomore in 2015.
SFA will have the help of newly hired assistant coach Daniel DeLuca in 2017-18 and recent Lumberjack golfer Baxter Ward, who has re-joined the program as a graduate assistant this fall. DeLuca came to the university in August after most recently serving as a graduate assistant at Eastern Kentucky University.
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Coming off a second-place showing at the 2017 Southland Conference Championships this past April, the 'Jacks appear to be poised for another strong season in 2017-18. SFA landed just four shots off the league title last spring to earn its best result at the conference championship since winning the Southland in 1999. The 'Jacks have returned two of their top golfers from a year ago, while adding plenty of newcomers to the squad with four true freshmen.
Hosted by Louisiana Tech, the Jim Rivers Intercollegiate will be the first test for this year's team as the freshmen will get their first taste of collegiate golf. The two-day tournament will get underway this Monday, Sept. 18, with 36 holes of play and will continue Tuesday, Sept. 19, with an additional 18 holes at the Squire Creek Country Club. Following their short stay in the Pelican State, the 'Jacks will take 10 days off from competition before traveling to Simpsonville, Kentucky, for the University of Louisville's Cardinal Challenge. Held at the state-of-the-art University of Louisville Golf Club, the three-day, 54-hole challenge will take place Friday-Sunday, Sept. 29-Oct. 1.
SFA will compete in a pair tournaments the final two weeks of October to wrap up its fall slate of play, traveling twice to the state of Arkansas. First, the 'Jacks will take on the Little Rock Intercollegiate held at the Chenal Country Club Monday-Tuesday, Oct. 23-24. The two-day, 54-hole tournament will be hosted by Little Rock in Little Rock, Arkansas. Just five days later, SFA will find itself back in Arkansas, this time traveling to El Dorado for Louisiana-Monroe's Duck Commander Intercollegiate. Taking place Sunday-Tuesday, Oct. 29-Oct. 31, the three-day, 54-hole tournament will be held at the Mystic Creek Golf Club.
Following fall competition, the 'Jacks will have the winter off from tournament play before beginning their spring championship season in February.
SFA's two returning letter winners from a year ago, junior Angelo Leyvani and senior Blake Stock, look to continue where they left off last spring after having strong 2016-17 campaigns. A native of San Antonio, Texas (Thomas A. Adison H.S.), Leyvani averaged a score of 73.87 last year, 15th-best in program history, and claimed three top-10 and four top-20 finishes. Earning All-Southland Third Team honors, Leyvani was one of two Lumberjacks to compete in all 31 rounds. Stock, a native of Hewitt, Texas (Midway H.S.), had the third-lowest scoring average on the team in 2016-17 with a 74.23 mark as he registered seven rounds of par-or-better golf. His 9-under 65 at the Bob Sitton Invitational tied for the second-lowest round in program history. Stock captured the 2017 Colin Montgomerie Spring Invitational individual title and posted three other top-10 and one top-20 finishes.
The 'Jacks will have four new faces on the course this year with true freshmen Steven Fabik, Trey Gillingwater, Max Kettler and Andy Lopez prepared to contribute immediately this fall. Junior Jake Hendrix returns to the program for his junior year after not competing last spring. A native of Austin, Texas (Home School), Hendrix competed in six rounds for SFA last fall at the Jim Rivers Intercollegiate and the Duck Commander Intercollegiate, registering a 79.33 scoring average. Fabik hails from Carrollton, Texas, and Hebron High School, while Gillingwater, a native of Austin, Texas, is both a 5A and 6A state champion at Westlake High School where he claimed all-district honors his final three years and was a Texas State Amateur qualifier as a senior. From Southlake, Texas (Carroll H.S.), Kettler is also a 6A state champion and a was a first-team all-district and first-team all-state performer his senior year. Kettler finished 8th at the Cotton States Amateur and captured first place at the Texas North Amateur with scores of 68, 71 and 67 in the three rounds. A native of Dallas, Texas, Lopez helped Plano West High School to a 6A state championship as a junior in 2016 and finished third individually at the state championship as a sophomore in 2015.
SFA will have the help of newly hired assistant coach Daniel DeLuca in 2017-18 and recent Lumberjack golfer Baxter Ward, who has re-joined the program as a graduate assistant this fall. DeLuca came to the university in August after most recently serving as a graduate assistant at Eastern Kentucky University.
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