JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – After a week off, the Carson-Newman men's golf team will travel to the Lake Jovita Country Club in Tampa. Fla. for the Saint Leo Men's Invitational on Monday and Tuesday.
The Eagles last competed at the Kiawah Island Invitational and placed 10th in a field full of NCAA Championship competitors. The Saint Leo Men's Invitational also features top-talent in Division II.
"We continue to push ourselves to see if we can compete at the top level and that's what we are shooting for. These kids have bought in to trying to make this a championship program and if you are have a true championship program, you got to play against the best," coach Randy Wylie said. "We are going down to play at Lake Jovita in Tampa against the best teams in the country. It's a tall order, but if you want to play with the best teams and beat the best teams, you've got to go for it and I think the kids are ready."
Three seniors, a junior and a freshman make up the team for Wylie this season. Seniors Andrew Hall (Knoxville, Tenn.), Nicklaus Kennedy (London, Ontario, Canada), Jace Devault (Bluff City, Tenn.), junior Dalton Reese (Warrenton, Ga.) and freshman Jake Headrick (Maryville, Tenn.) are the five competitors in the Blue and Orange. Kennedy led the Eagles at the Kiawah Island event with a 13th-place finish, while Hall placed 17th. Reese is making his season debut.
"We have four upperclassmen who have played a lot of tournaments going, so we are bringing a very experienced team with a very talented freshman in Jake Headrick. They should be ready for it mentally; this is the kind of challenge is one that they are prepared for."
Eight top-25 teams from last season will compete at Lake Jovita, including the second-ranked Lynn and third-ranked South Carolina Aiken. Host Saint Leo was sixth in 2014; other ranked teams competing include: Limestone, Florida Southern, Florida Tech and Columbus State.
Carson-Newman will be competing in the tournament for the first time. Lake Jovita plays as a par-72, 7,153-yard course from the tips and was designed by PGA golfer Tom Lehman.
"It's an interesting Florida course because it's got some pretty hilly parts; normally, when you go to Florida and you're playing, you expect it to be really flat and it's got a lot of elevation change, Bermuda fairways, Bermuda greens, probably some wind down there. It will be a good challenge. There have had the PGA Tour school has played at Lake Jovita and they've had a number of pro events. A lot of pro PGA Tour players live around Lake Jovita and practice there, so it's a real championship test."
The 54-hole tournament tees off Monday morning and runs through Tuesday. Each day, results and a recap will be available on cneagles.com.
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