Monday, September 18
Ruston, La. (Squire Creek C.C.)
All Day
Stephen F. Austin
at
Jim Rivers Intercollegiate
Men’s Golf Set to Compete at Jim Rivers Intercollegiate Monday and Tuesday
9/17/2017 4:01:00 PM | Men's Golf
The ‘Jacks open up their fall slate of tournaments Monday morning with the Jim Rivers Intercollegiate in Ruston, Louisiana
Throughout the 2017-18 season, SFAJacks.com will feature a men's golfer or coach with a Q&A leading up to each of the Lumberjacks' tournaments. Today, highlighting junior Angelo Leyvani.
NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The fall portion of the Stephen F. Austin men's golf schedule for the 2017-18 season begins tomorrow morning at the Jim Rivers Intercollegiate in Ruston, Louisiana. Hosted by Louisiana Tech, the two-day, 54-hole tournament will feature a field of 14 teams competing at the Squire Creek Country Club Monday-Tuesday, Sept. 18-19.
Play will get started Monday morning at 8 a.m. with a shotgun start as golfers will play two rounds of golf for a total of 36 holes on the first day. The final round will get underway Tuesday with an 8 a.m. shotgun start as well.
A total of eight other Southland Conference teams will be competing in the tournament, including the University of New Orleans, Southeastern Louisiana, Nicholls, Lamar, Incarnate Word, Houston Baptist, Central Arkansas and Abilene Christian. SFA will also compete against five non-conference institutions in Conference USA members Louisiana Tech, Southern Miss, and UTSA, American Athletic Conference member South Florida, and Missouri State out of the Missouri Valley Conference.
The Lumberjacks finished 10th at the Jim Rivers Intercollegiate a year ago, posting a three-round score of 25-over 889 on the par 72, 7,070-yard course. Zach Sudinsky led SFA with a 1-over 217, tying for 11th, while junior Angelo Leyvani finished tied for 19th with a 3-over 219. Major Monzingo competed as an individual but tied for 29th with a 5-over 221 as Baxter Ward tied for 47th with a 11-over 227. Senior Blake Stock (Hewitt, Texas) and junior Jake Hendrix (Austin, Texas) tied for 55th and 68th respectively, with Stock posting a 13-over 229 and Hendrix a 20-over 236. Louisiana-Monroe claimed the 2016 tournament title after shooting a 7-under 857, while Lamar's Zander Gous claimed the individual crown with a three-round score of 9-under 207.
Leyvani, freshman Max Kettler (Southlake, Texas), Stock, freshman Andy Lopez (Dallas, Texas) and freshman Steven Fabik (Carrollton, Texas) will be the competing five for SFA. Each will tee off from holes 10-14, respectively, and have been paired in foursomes with Houston Baptist, Abilene Christian and individual competitors.
The 'Jacks are looking to pick up right where they left off last April when SFA took home second place at the 2017 Southland Conference Championship, finishing just four strokes from the league title. It was the programs best showing at the conference tournament since winning the Southland in 1999.
Getting to know Angelo Leyvani
Leyvani is SFA's top returning golfer from 2016-17 after posting a 73.87 scoring average last season, the 15th-best in program history. The San Antonio, Texas (Thomas A. Edison H.S.), native notched 10 rounds of par-or-better golf last year, including a season-low 69 in the opening round of the Jim West Intercollegiate. He had three top-10 finishes and four other top-20 placements. Leyvani was among the top-three SFA finishers in 10 of 11 events on the year, leading the team on two occasions. For his career, Leyvani has earned six top-10 finishes, not to mention placing in the top 20 a total of five additional times.
Why did you choose to come and play at SFA?
"I chose SFA because I felt this is where I had the best opportunity to further my education by getting a sports business degree and playing Division I golf at the same time."
Who is the most influential person in your life, and why?
"My mom is the most influential person in my life because growing up she always worked hard to make sure I had what I needed to be able to play golf. Everything I do is me trying to make my mom proud and I can't thank her enough for getting me where I am today."
What are your top three to five values in life?
"My top values in life are perseverance, responsibility, and confidence. Perseverance, because you can never give up, when things get tough you just have to stay determined to accomplish the task at hand. Responsibility, because I would rather do things on my own rather than depending on someone, and I think that is why I play golf because how I perform is all up to me and only me. Lastly, confidence, because I believe that you need to have faith in your abilities to do whatever you set your mind to."
What is your best life lesson learned in college and/or golf?
"The best life lesson I've learned through golf is to be mentally tough. A lot of the time things won't go your way and it is all about how you handle yourself through those times. You can't let little things bother you or else things will go further downhill. This is definitely important because every round you will hit a bad shot but if you just keep your head on straight, good things will happen."
What is your dream job?
"My dream job is definitely to play on the PGA Tour. Sounds pretty good to be able to do what I love every week, travel across the world, and get paid for it."
Who would play you in a movie/TV series?
"I would have Robert Downey Jr. play me in a movie because he can play a serious role or also be funny."
What is your biggest fear?
"My biggest fear is going down the snack aisle in a grocery store and seeing they are all out of gushers, which is my favorite snack of all time."
What is one thing that no one knows about Angelo?
"One thing nobody knows about me is I am a really talented ping pong player. There aren't many people I know that can hang with me."
-SFA-
Players Mentioned
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
/ Men's Golf
1.29.24 | Axe 'Em Insider Ep. 23 x Golf
Monday, January 29
