BOONE, N.C. - Over three months since competition, App State Men's Golf is eager to officially kick off the spring slate this weekend down in Palm City, Fla. at the Martin Downs Intercollegiate.
The three-day tournament event, Feb. 14-16, will be hosted by UNC-Greensboro at Martin Downs Golf Club. The course of choice is Osprey Creek, a par-72, 6,802 yard course designed by Treasure Coast Golf Architect Charles Ankrom.
"I've definitely seen a switch in mentality over the last couple of weeks," head coach Danny Forshey said. "They're ready to go. You can see it. They're tired of qualifying, and it's exciting for me to see as a coach."
A total of 13 universities will be competing alongside the Mountaineers. Bucknell, Holy Cross, Drexel, Elon, James Madison, Seton Hall, Lehigh, Old Dominion, Purdue Fort Wayne, Samford, UNCG, University of South Dakota and Villanova round out the participants.
James Madison enters the event ranked No. 44, according to Golfstat.com. UNCG eyes to defend the event title from a season ago.
"We're just looking to compete," Forshey said. "It's not about who you're playing, it's about being the best that we can be. If we can keep along that mindset, the results will always take care of themselves."
Appalachian took a total of six golfers down to Florida. Timothius Tirto Tamardi, Dylan Lukes, Sverrir Haraldsson, Jake Lane and Addison Beam are the projected starters for the Mountaineers. Nicholas Gunnell will be competing as an individual.
Practice rounds will commence Thursday with championship tee times for round one promptly beginning at 7:30 a.m. Friday morning.
During the fall, both Tamardi and Lane generated a Sun Belt Conference top-15 round and score versus par average. Tamardi, ranked No. 11, produced a -0.07 average score versus par and a 71.33 round average. Lane, ranked No. 8, accumulated a team-low round average of 71.13 and a -0.27 average score versus par.
"We've practiced hard," Tarmardi said. "We've got to focus on our goal to win the tournament, shoot a low score and fighting until the very end."
Haraldsson, a spring enrollee, will be competing in his first-ever tournament as a Mountaineer. Across his high school career and a semester of junior college at Framhaldsskólinn í Mosfellsbæ back in Iceland, he held an average round score of 73.5.
Lukes carded a career-best round of 68 last fall. He also amassed the team's third-highest birdie count over the five tournament span with 40. Beam, a freshman, will compete in his fourth tournament of his career after posting one of the Sun Belt's top average scores versus par during the fall as well, top 50.
Live stats from the Martin Downs Intercollegiate will be provided via Golfstat.com. To follow up-to-date information from the tournament, App fans can follow the official Twitter account of App State Men's Golf at @appstategolf.
