BOONE, N.C. - App State men's golf is set to officially tee off the 2020 fall slate on Sunday at the J.T. Poston Invitational down in Hartwell, Ga.
The Mountaineers will hit the links under new leadership as Jason Allison was named the interim head coach of the program back in June, after spending six seasons on staff with the App State's men's basketball team.
"Keeping the guys committed, to staying and playing for App State was the number one priority," interim head coach Allison said. "I was proud of the fact that they came back as some had other options. I worked my tail off to get to know these kids and parents my first 10 days."
With experience as the head golf coach at Lees-McRae College (Banner Elk, N.C.) and King College (Bristol, Tenn.), Allison transitions back full-time to the golf game after spending most of the last two decades in the college basketball ranks.
"I was upfront with kids, and said I'm no swing coach," Allison said. "#LetItFly is something that's always stuck with me even in hoops as a shooter, but in golf it's more a social media brand, and I want my guys to play loose and free."
The J.T. Poston Invitational will be hosted by the Cateechee Golf Club and Armis Advisers and is named in honor of a former Western Carolina men's golfer, J.T. Poston. After competing for the Catamounts during the 2011-2015 seasons, Poston is now a PGA Tour Professional.
Cateechee Golf Club presents a par-71, 6,570-yard course as a total of seven teams are set to duel the 54-hole event. App State, Central Arkansas, Chattanooga, Emmanuel, Mercer, Piedmont and Western Carolina will partake in the invitational.
Teams will be comprised of a six-person team, including an individual, scoring the top four rounds each day. In light of COVID-19, each university will play in two sets of threesomes with their own teammates. 18 holes will be played per round per day, Sunday though Tuesday, with the practice round on Saturday.
"We want to start fast and finish strong," Allison said. "We are going to be gritty and hang in there during a tough stretch. If we get the lead, we want to put our foot on the gas and increase it."
The Black and Gold projected starting five for opening invitational is Timothius Tirto Tamardi (junior), Jake Lane (senior), Dylan Lukes (5th-year senior), Justin Morgan (junior) and Addison Beam (sophomore). Lukas Jönnson (junior) is projected to be competing as an individual.
"We are ready," Allison said. "The kids have worked hard. There's an expectation level on how we are to represent App State on and off the course."
Four out of the five projected Mountaineer starters are returners from that of a successful 2019-20 campaign. In under a year, App State surged up 99 positions in Golfstat's official rankings and 105 spots in Golfweek's collegiate rankings.Despite a shortened season due to COVID-19, a 287.52 team scoring average placed them second in the Sun Belt Conference.
Last season, Lane (71.24) and Tamardi (71.29) maintained the lowest individual single-season stroke averages since the 1994-95 season.
Lukes helped to produce one of the lowest team rounds in program history, tying the second-lowest with a 276 at the Phoenix Invitational in the fall of 2019. He also assisted in three of the four top-3 team finishes from a season ago.
Morgan transferred to the High County from Cape Fear Community College. During the 2018-19 season with the Sea Devils, Morgan finished tied for first atop the player leaderboard three separate times. Beam will look to keep the momentum rolling from his recent amateur event win at the Gaston County Amateur where he posted an 11-under-par final score.
Due to COVID-19 and for the safety of all the student athletes, no volunteers or spectators will be allowed on the course. Live scoring will be available through Golfstat.com. Be For event updates, follow App State men's golf official Twitter account at @appstategolf.
After the J.T. Poston Invitational, the Mountaineers will compete in two more events during the course of the fall. On Oct. 12-13. App State will take part in the Intercollegiate at the Grove in College Grove, Tenn., hosted by Middle Tennessee State. A week later (Oct. 19-20), the Black and Gold will compete in the Health Plan Mountaineer Invitational out of Bridgeport, W.V., hosted by West Virginia University.
The current times are still fluid meaning that 2020 fall schedule is subject to change.
"We want to thank Chancellor Everts, AD Doug Gillin and our conference for allowing us to compete," Allison said. "Our team knows it isn't entitled to anything, and we respect the opportunity to represent App State."
