Monday, September 17
Richmond, Va.
8:45 a.m.
West Virginia University
at
VCU Invitational
Photo by: Todd Drexler
WVU to Defend Title at VCU Invitational
September 16, 2018 02:35 PM | Golf
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – For the first time in program history, the West Virginia University men's golf team enters an event as the defending champions as the Mountaineers open the 2018-19 season at the VCU Invitational on Monday and Tuesday. VCU is slated to host the event at the Country Club of Richmond in Richmond, Virginia.
Golfers will tee off in a shotgun start at 8:45 a.m. on Monday and will play 36 continuous holes. The third and final round will also begin with a shotgun start at 8:45 a.m. on Tuesday. Teams will play on the par-72, 6,927-yard Tuckahoe Creek Course.
In addition to the Mountaineers and the Rams, Richmond, Maryland, Villanova, Penn State, James Madison, Old Dominion, George Washington, Radford and Virginia Tech will take part in the tournament. West Virginia is paired with VCU and George Washington for the first and second rounds.
West Virginia shot 22-under-par to win the 2017 VCU Invite.
"Weather conditions will certainly play a factor this week as we will have to deal with the remnants of Hurricane Florence," coach Sean Covich said. "The golf course will be extremely wet, and we expect some winds and rain throughout the event so being mentally strong and remaining positive will be at a premium this week. We are looking forward to competing in our first event of the season at a golf course we have played for a few years in a row."
Matthew Sharpstene, Max Sear, Kurtis Grant, Mark Goetz and Etienne Papineau will represent the Mountaineers, with Philipp Matlari playing as an individual.
Sear and Papineau each return for their third season at the tournament, with Sear twice matching the previous program low round at VCU. Sharpstene, Goetz and Matlari compete for the second time, while Grant makes his collegiate debut.
Preseason Notebook
Seniors
A duo of experienced – and history-making – seniors headlines the 2018-19 WVU golf team. Max Sear and Tristan Nicholls are set to become the program's first four-year letterwinners since the early 1980s. Sear, a Canadian, and Nicholls, who hails from Australia, left their native countries to compete for a golf program that wasn't yet in existence when they signed their National Letters of Intent and have gone on to leave their mark in the program record books. Sear's season scoring average of 73.03 as a junior last year is the lowest in WVU history, while Nicholls also appears in the all-time top scoring lists. Sear, who enters the year with a career scoring average of 73.58 and 12 rounds in the 60s, will look for his first-ever medalist finish after falling in a playoff last season. He will also strive to become the program's first two-time GCAA All-America Scholar after earning the accolade as a junior. Nicholls, who's played in 84 career rounds for the Mountaineers, represented West Virginia at the 2016 and 2016 Big 12 Championships. After missing the cut as a junior, he'll look to get back in the lineup for the 2019 Big 12 tournament at The Greenbrier.
Juniors
Etienne Papineau carried his stellar freshman campaign into his sophomore season, registering four top-20 finishes and a 73.31 scoring average. The Québécois finished as the runner-up at WVU's home event, The Health Plan Mountaineer Invitational, and helped the Mountaineers finish as the team runner-up at the Furman Intercollegiate in March by taking third as an individual. Papineau capped his season with his second straight trip to the Big 12 Championship. Classmate Philipp Matlari played 16 rounds in six tournaments in his first season at WVU. The Leiman, Germany, native claimed a top-10 finish in his WVU debut, helping the Mountaineers take the team title at the Janney VCU Shootout in September. He'll look to compete for a spot in the Big 12 lineup after the departure of Avery Schneider.
Sophomores
Matthew Sharpstene, Mark Goetz and Logan Perkins were freshmen in name only for last season's Mountaineers. The trio combined for nine top-20 finishes and eight rounds in the 60s in their rookie campaigns. Sharpstene and Goetz battled for program records, with Sharpstene's 64 at the Martin Downs Collegiate coming out on top. The pair also represented West Virginia at the 2018 Big 12 Men's Golf Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with Sharpstene narrowly missing a top-10 finish. Perkins, who played 16 rounds in six tournaments, could have the opportunity to slide into the Big 12 lineup with the graduation of Schneider. Sharpstene was the most consistent in the lineup, playing all 12 events on the schedule, while Goetz played in 10. All three have the potential to be tournament staples in 2018-19.
Freshman
Newcomer Kurtis Grant will be the lone addition to the team this season. Grant comes to Morgantown from Herndon, Virginia, where he competed for South Lakes High. He's claimed medalist honors at a trio of events during his prep career, and brings match play experience to the team – a great fit for a new addition to the team's schedule.
Schedule
The 2018-19 WVU golf schedule is a mix of old favorites and new additions. The team will defend its 2017 title at the Janney VCU Shootout (Sept. 17-18) to open the season, and will once again host The Health Plan Mountaineer Invitational at Pete Dye Golf Club in Bridgeport on Oct. 8-9. The Mountaineers will again co-host The Tavistock Collegiate Invitational (Oct. 21-23) in Windermere, Florida, and return to Lahaina, Hawaii for the Ka'anapali Collegiate Classic at the start of November. WVU heads back to the Seminole Intercollegiate (Feb. 23-24), the Irish Creek Collegiate (April 6-7), and the Rutherford Intercollegiate (April 13-14) in addition to a third-straight head-to-head match with Penn State in Florida (Feb. 3).
The Mountaineers are set to make their debut at the Old Town Club Collegiate in Winston-Salem, North Carolina (Sept. 24-25), the SunTrust Gator Invitational in Gainesville, Florida (Feb. 16-17) and the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate in Awendaw, South Carolina (March 24-25). Another new competition on the schedule is Big 12 Match Play Championship, which will run from Oct. 12-14 in Houston.
The 2019 Big 12 Men's Golf Championship will highlight the schedule, as West Virginia will host the event for the first time ever at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Golfers will play 72 holes on The Old White TPC from April 26-28.
Golfers will tee off in a shotgun start at 8:45 a.m. on Monday and will play 36 continuous holes. The third and final round will also begin with a shotgun start at 8:45 a.m. on Tuesday. Teams will play on the par-72, 6,927-yard Tuckahoe Creek Course.
In addition to the Mountaineers and the Rams, Richmond, Maryland, Villanova, Penn State, James Madison, Old Dominion, George Washington, Radford and Virginia Tech will take part in the tournament. West Virginia is paired with VCU and George Washington for the first and second rounds.
West Virginia shot 22-under-par to win the 2017 VCU Invite.
"Weather conditions will certainly play a factor this week as we will have to deal with the remnants of Hurricane Florence," coach Sean Covich said. "The golf course will be extremely wet, and we expect some winds and rain throughout the event so being mentally strong and remaining positive will be at a premium this week. We are looking forward to competing in our first event of the season at a golf course we have played for a few years in a row."
Matthew Sharpstene, Max Sear, Kurtis Grant, Mark Goetz and Etienne Papineau will represent the Mountaineers, with Philipp Matlari playing as an individual.
Sear and Papineau each return for their third season at the tournament, with Sear twice matching the previous program low round at VCU. Sharpstene, Goetz and Matlari compete for the second time, while Grant makes his collegiate debut.
Preseason Notebook
Seniors
A duo of experienced – and history-making – seniors headlines the 2018-19 WVU golf team. Max Sear and Tristan Nicholls are set to become the program's first four-year letterwinners since the early 1980s. Sear, a Canadian, and Nicholls, who hails from Australia, left their native countries to compete for a golf program that wasn't yet in existence when they signed their National Letters of Intent and have gone on to leave their mark in the program record books. Sear's season scoring average of 73.03 as a junior last year is the lowest in WVU history, while Nicholls also appears in the all-time top scoring lists. Sear, who enters the year with a career scoring average of 73.58 and 12 rounds in the 60s, will look for his first-ever medalist finish after falling in a playoff last season. He will also strive to become the program's first two-time GCAA All-America Scholar after earning the accolade as a junior. Nicholls, who's played in 84 career rounds for the Mountaineers, represented West Virginia at the 2016 and 2016 Big 12 Championships. After missing the cut as a junior, he'll look to get back in the lineup for the 2019 Big 12 tournament at The Greenbrier.
Juniors
Etienne Papineau carried his stellar freshman campaign into his sophomore season, registering four top-20 finishes and a 73.31 scoring average. The Québécois finished as the runner-up at WVU's home event, The Health Plan Mountaineer Invitational, and helped the Mountaineers finish as the team runner-up at the Furman Intercollegiate in March by taking third as an individual. Papineau capped his season with his second straight trip to the Big 12 Championship. Classmate Philipp Matlari played 16 rounds in six tournaments in his first season at WVU. The Leiman, Germany, native claimed a top-10 finish in his WVU debut, helping the Mountaineers take the team title at the Janney VCU Shootout in September. He'll look to compete for a spot in the Big 12 lineup after the departure of Avery Schneider.
Sophomores
Matthew Sharpstene, Mark Goetz and Logan Perkins were freshmen in name only for last season's Mountaineers. The trio combined for nine top-20 finishes and eight rounds in the 60s in their rookie campaigns. Sharpstene and Goetz battled for program records, with Sharpstene's 64 at the Martin Downs Collegiate coming out on top. The pair also represented West Virginia at the 2018 Big 12 Men's Golf Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with Sharpstene narrowly missing a top-10 finish. Perkins, who played 16 rounds in six tournaments, could have the opportunity to slide into the Big 12 lineup with the graduation of Schneider. Sharpstene was the most consistent in the lineup, playing all 12 events on the schedule, while Goetz played in 10. All three have the potential to be tournament staples in 2018-19.
Freshman
Newcomer Kurtis Grant will be the lone addition to the team this season. Grant comes to Morgantown from Herndon, Virginia, where he competed for South Lakes High. He's claimed medalist honors at a trio of events during his prep career, and brings match play experience to the team – a great fit for a new addition to the team's schedule.
Schedule
The 2018-19 WVU golf schedule is a mix of old favorites and new additions. The team will defend its 2017 title at the Janney VCU Shootout (Sept. 17-18) to open the season, and will once again host The Health Plan Mountaineer Invitational at Pete Dye Golf Club in Bridgeport on Oct. 8-9. The Mountaineers will again co-host The Tavistock Collegiate Invitational (Oct. 21-23) in Windermere, Florida, and return to Lahaina, Hawaii for the Ka'anapali Collegiate Classic at the start of November. WVU heads back to the Seminole Intercollegiate (Feb. 23-24), the Irish Creek Collegiate (April 6-7), and the Rutherford Intercollegiate (April 13-14) in addition to a third-straight head-to-head match with Penn State in Florida (Feb. 3).
The Mountaineers are set to make their debut at the Old Town Club Collegiate in Winston-Salem, North Carolina (Sept. 24-25), the SunTrust Gator Invitational in Gainesville, Florida (Feb. 16-17) and the Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate in Awendaw, South Carolina (March 24-25). Another new competition on the schedule is Big 12 Match Play Championship, which will run from Oct. 12-14 in Houston.
The 2019 Big 12 Men's Golf Championship will highlight the schedule, as West Virginia will host the event for the first time ever at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia. Golfers will play 72 holes on The Old White TPC from April 26-28.
Players Mentioned
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