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Men's Golf Unveils 2016-17 Schedule
August 04, 2016 | Men's Golf
Head coach Mark Crabtree has four starters returning this season.
LOUISVILLE, Ky. – University of Louisville men's golf coach Mark Crabtree guided the Cardinals to their third appearance at the NCAA Golf Championships last season. The 17th-year leader is ready to turn the page, looking to build upon that success.
On Thursday, he announced the 2016-17 schedule that consists of 10 regular-season tournaments, including a trip to Kauai, Hawaii, for the Warrior Wave Invitational and a return visit to the Clemson Invitational, one of the top programs in the ACC.
After reaching the NCAA Regional for the third-straight year and the ninth time in school history, the Cardinals return four of their top five players in Keegan de Lange, Erik Dulik, J.D. Lehman and Simon Zach, but lost Robin Sciot-Siegrist, one of the top players at Louisville. He graduated as the school-record holder in career and single-season stroke average.
"This will be a young team overall in terms of collegiate experience," Crabtree said. "This is a talented group, probably a deeper team from top to bottom, and I expect all our new guys to compete for travel spots in each of our fall events."
The Cardinals begin the season with five fall tournaments, opening the year at the Wolf Run Intercollegiate on Sept. 10 and then traveling down I-71 for a short trip to Cincinnati for the Bearcat Invitational on Sept. 26-27.
After a 16-day break, Louisville returns to the course for the Bank of Tennessee Intercollegiate in Johnson City, Tenn., on Oct. 14-16, before completing the fall slate in Hawaii.
"We have an exciting and competitive schedule, with quality nationally ranked fields in every event," Crabtree said.00
"We open up in Indiana at a very difficult course," Crabtree added. "We have two hosted by Middle Tennessee State, a NCAA regional site for 2017 and a difficult field at Cincinnati. East Tennessee always has outstanding field and then we the fall with our fourth-straight trip out to Kauai, Hawaii where we have experienced great success."
After the winter break, Louisville opens its spring schedule on Feb. 20 at the Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate in Mobile, Ala., before traveling to Jacksonville, Fla., for the John Hayt Invitational – a staple on the Cardinals' schedule for the last few seasons.
The Cardinals return to the state of Alabama on March 5 for the Auburn Invitational – the same course the Cardinals played at for the 2014 NCAA Regional.
After a two-week break, Louisville travels to the Kingsmill Invitational from March 19-21 in Williamsburg, Va. Louisville wraps up its regular-season schedule with the Clemson Invitational on April 7-9. Last year's field featured a 12-team field that included five ACC teams and eight of the top 115 players in the nation.
"The spring schedule features some of the best events in all of college golf -- the Hayt, the Auburn and the Clemson Invitational. We return to Alabama for first event to play in Mobile Sports Authority Intercollegiate and also travel to Williamsburg, Va., in middle March to play Kingsmill Invitational for the first time."
Louisville starts postseason play at the ACC Championship in New London, N.C. Held from April 21-23, the 12-team field is set to compete at the Sedgefield Country Club. The NCAA Regional Championships take place from May 15-17 and teams will be qualifying to play at one of six locations: Baton Rouge, La.; West Lafayette, Ind.; Stanford, Cal.; Austin, Texas; Murfreesboro, Tenn.; and Auburn, Wash.
The Cardinals look to return national championships for the fourth time in school history, which are taking place at Rich Harvest Farms from May 26-31 in Sugar Grove, Ill., and hosted for the first time by Northern Illinois University.
Players Mentioned
