VIDEO: Randy Wylie Interview
Hurricane Invitational Information
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The first of back-to-back tournaments for No. 22/23 Carson-Newman tees off this week as the Eagles head to Albany, Ga. for the Hurricane Invitational, hosted by No. 1/2 Georgia Southwestern at the Doublegate Country Club on Monday and Tuesday.
C-N opened the spring season with a share of seventh-place at the Spring Kickoff Intercollegiate. It was 49-over in the event, moving its adjusted scoring average on the year to 72.74. Tom Forster (Oundle, England) was the only Eagle to land in the top 20 of the field, tying for 18th at nine-over.
"We really were disappointed in the overall team play and preparation last week, so we've got to do better," Carson-Newman coach Randy Wylie said. "Hopefully we're ready to do it. We've shown some resilience in the past to bounce back from poor performances and we've really got to do that this week.
Despite the finish, the Eagles moved up to No. 22 in the first Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) ranking of the spring, marking their first return to the national poll since sitting at No. 18 in the initial rankings of the season on Aug. 23, 2019. They opened the spring at No. 17 in the Golfstat poll before moving to 23rd after their last event.
A majority of the starting lineup from the Spring Kickoff Intercollegiate will remain intact for this week's event, including Forster and Jake Mynatt (Knoxville, Tenn.) staying at the No. 1 and No. 2 spots. They both lead the way for Eagles on the leaderboard in the spring-opener, sitting in ties for 18th and 22nd, respectively.
Alex Hodge (Knoxville, Tenn.) moves up to the third-seeded position while Fergus Robinson (Towcester, England) slides down to the fourth-seed. Hodge currently holds the second-best scoring average this season on the team with a 72.7, close behind Forster's 71.3 clip. Robinson tied for 48th at the Spring Kickoff while Hodge tied for 62nd.
Zach Young (Crossville, Tenn.) rounds out the starting-five with his second starting appearance of the season. Through five rounds of play on the season, the sophomore is averaging a 75.0 clip. His last start came at the South Region preview to close out the fall slate. Playing as the No. 5 seed for the Eagles, he finished with a share of 62nd with a 236 (+20) through three rounds.
Playing in his first event as the individual for C-N this season is Fintan McKenna (Aberdeen, Scotland). Through five events, the senior holds a 74.2 scoring average.
This is the first appearance for Carson-Newman in the event that is in its fifth year.
The Orange and Blue will be among three nationally ranked teams in the field. Along with the Eagles and the hosting Hurricanes, Delta State is currently at No. 14 in the GCAA poll and No. 15 according to Golfstat.
"We've never played the golf course," Wylie said. "I've heard nothing but good things about it, so that's going to be a challenge too – to go down there and get prepared and be able to handle the golf course as well as the tough competition."
Southern Arkansas won the event last year with a four-over 868 showing. On the individual side, Georgia Southwestern's Vincent Norrman returns as the back-to-back top medalist in the tournament. A Hurricane has won the event three of the past four year.
The tournament will be broken up over two days with Monday involving 36 holes before the final 18 are played on Tuesday. Live scoring will be found on the Golfstat mobile platform throughout both days of competition. Live video coverage of holes 9 and 18 will be offered by the staff at Georgia Southwestern, weather permitting, during the second and third rounds on the GSWAthletics YouTube channel. A full recap and results will make their way to cneagles.com following the conclusion of both days.
