By Mike Lehman, TTU Sports Information
COOKEVILLE, Tenn. – After a long, excruciating wait, the spring season has finally arrived for the Tennessee Tech men's golf team, as the Golden Eagles make their way southeast to North Myrtle Beach, S.C. for the Bash at the Beach Collegiate hosted by Appalachian State.
BASH AT THE BEACH COLLEGIATE: 54 holes (36 Monday, 18 Tuesday), located at the par-71, 6741-yard Surf Golf & Beach Club. Teams will tee off at 7 a.m. CT on Monday, competing in rounds one and two of the tournament. Tuesday will feature a shotgun start from 7:30-9:30 a.m.
GOLDEN EAGLE LINEUP: Competing for the Golden Eagles are senior Mitch Thomas, freshman Matthew Giles, senior Bryce Kendrick, senior Neil Gannaway, and sophomore A.J. Wilkerson. Also, competing as an individual is redshirt freshman Ben Huskey.
THE COMPETITION: The 19-team field consists of Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Belmont, Fairleigh Dickinson, Gardner Webb, George Mason, George Washington, High Point, Holy Cross, James Madison, Longwood, North Carolina Central, Oakland, Radford, St. Bonaventure, Valparaiso, West Georgia, and Western Kentucky.
THOUGHTS FROM COACH BROWN: "We're very excited to get the spring season started, and what a better way than to go to Myrtle Beach," head coach Polk Brown said. "The guys have been hard at work and we look forward to the competition starting on Monday. Weather looks to be fantastic and we are honored to play in such a great event with an even better field. This is the first of a three-week stretch of events for us, so we're looking to build some momentum early to start the semester."
WHAT TO WATCH FOR: The Golden Eagles enter their first spring tournament coming off a third-place showing at the ASU Fall Beach Classic back in October. Matthew Giles tied for third place overall at the event, securing his school-record third Ohio Valley Conference Male Golfer of the Week honor after firing a 1-under 143 in the rain-shortened event. A.J. Wilkerson also managed a top-10 finish at the event, tying for eighth overall with a 1-over 145. This marks the second trip to Myrtle Beach for the Golden Eagles Eagles this year, having opened the fall season at the GolfWeek Program Challenge at the True Blue Golf Club.
Photo by Rob Schabert, Assistant A.D. for Sports Information
