Men's Golf Opens Spring Schedule in Florida

MGOLF: Spring Opener

VERMILLION, S.D. -- The South Dakota men's golf team opens the spring portion of its 2019-20 season on Friday at the UNC Greensboro Martin Downs Collegiate in Palm City, Florida. The event will take place over the span of three days (Friday-Sunday).

The Coyotes were tabbed fourth in The Summit League Preseason Poll the league office announced earlier in January. USD enters the spring season after posting a team stroke average of 293.8 strokes per round, ranking fifth in the League during the fall.

The Coyotes are led by Matt Tolan who shot an average of 72.3 during the fall season in 12 rounds of golf. Tolan shot a season-low 4-under in the second round of the Visit Stockton Pacific Invite while fellow teammate Ben Hicks also shot a season-low 4-below par in the third round of the Bubba Barnett Intercollegiate. Hicks averaged a 74.8 in 12 rounds of golf while Justin Kolb has the second-lowest scoring average at 73.8 in 12 rounds of action as well.

The Yotes tied for second place at the Summit golf championships last season with a score of +25 while placing three in the top-20.

"This past month of preparation has been really solid," head coach John Vining said. "Collectively we all seem to be all in on the same mindset. We want to get the most out of our potential this spring and you can see guys really buying into that with their actions."

Along with Tolan and Kolb, Ben Hicks, Scott Fudenberg and Tate Arends will be at the event competing for the Coyotes while Hunter Paugh will be competing as an individual.

"We have another strong spring set," Vining said. "The thing I am excited about most is we will have two events where all eight of our guys will get to compete. These guys are working hard and have earned that opportunity."

Hicks shot an average of 74.7 in 12 rounds of action in the fall while Fudenberg shot a 75.2 stroke average. Paugh competed in nine rounds with an average of 79.4 and Arends will be competing in his first action of the season after recovering from an injury.

"Tate Arends is returning to the lineup after missing all of the fall recovering from a shoulder surgery," Vining said. "Tate led our team in scoring last year and was a member of the Summit League All-Conference team. It is great to see him healthy and back out there with us."

This will be the third consecutive season the Yotes have competed in the Martin Downs Collegiate, with it taking place on the Osprey Course of the Martin Downs Golf Club. 11 teams will be competing along with one other Summit League team in Purdue Fort Wayne. The course is set to play 6,802 yards and to a par 72. The format is 18 holes per day over three days.

After competing in five events in the fall, South Dakota will compete in five events before the Summit League Championships in May in Newton, Kansas.

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Players Mentioned

Tate Arends: Junior

Scott Fudenberg: Senior

Ben Hicks: Sophomore

Justin Kolb: Sophomore

Hunter Paugh: Senior

Matt Tolan: Senior

Players Mentioned

Tate Arends
: Junior

Scott Fudenberg
: Senior

Ben Hicks
: Sophomore

Justin Kolb
: Sophomore

Hunter Paugh
: Senior

Matt Tolan
: Senior