BOONE, N.C. - Appalachian State men's golf welcomes three new student-athletes to the rising program. Sverrir Haraldsson, Xander Kline and Thomas Matthews each officially put pen to paper during the National Signing Day period to join the Mountaineers under first-year head coach
Danny Forshey.
The three national letter-of-intents mark the very first commitment signings for coach Forshey as a Mountaineer. With the new additions, the program's roster increases up to 11 total golfers, soon-to-be comprising of five international players, as Haraldsson is eligible to start competing for the Black and Gold as early as the first spring tournament.
This past year, Haraldsson competed on the 18-U Icelandic National Team with the Mosfellsbaer Golf Club, helping secure a team championship. He was named Player of the Year during 2018 for Mosfellsbaer Golf Club. In 2019, Haraldsson won the club's Achievement of the Year Award.
He held a combined average round score of 73.5 during his high school and junior college career at Framhaldsskólinn í Mosfellsbæ in Iceland. Haraldsson is a five-time winner of the Icelandic Boys Tour and also has won the Order of Merit.
Not only does he eye to make an impact at Appalachian upon the golf course, he plans to major in general marketing while pursuing a graduate degree.
"Sverrir is recognized as one of the top players in Iceland. He competes at a high level and will be a welcome addition to our team in the spring."
The second commitment to reach the High Country was from Xander Kline out of Jupiter, Florida. Kline is a four-year varsity starter from the Benjamin School. In 2017 as a sophomore, he was nominated to the Sun Setenial All-Area Second Team. Kline earned a medalist position at the Florida District Championships a season ago. During that same campaign, he was named to the Palm Beach County All-Area First Team.
Back in the spring, Kline placed in the top 15 at the state championships leading his team to a runner-up finish. Now as the 2019 team captain, he eyes to make another proven statement at the state tournament.
Xander remains undecided in his preferred degree of study at Appalachian and will be eligible for collegiate competition come the fall of 2020.
"Xander is a very talented player with a huge ceiling. He has a winning pedigree, and comes from one of the top golf high schools in the state of Florida. We are pumped to get him on campus next fall"
The third and final App State commitment came by the way of Thomas Matthews. Matthews is a JUCO transfer originally from Wrexham, Wales. The current sophomore is transferring from Eastern Florida State College in Melbourne, Florida and will be eligible for play as Mountaineer the fall of 2020 as a junior classification.
Last season, Matthews was a semifinalist for the NJCAA Jack Nicklaus National Player of the Year Award. Off the course, he looks to continue his major in sports management up on the mountain at Appalachian.
"Thomas is one of the best junior college players in the country. He is a proven winner, and we are very excited to have him join our program."
App fans, be on the lookout for the unveiling of the spring 2020 schedule, and be sure to follow @appstategolf on Twitter.
