WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va.  – The West Virginia University golf team will host the 2019 Big 12 Men's Golf Championship, Friday through Sunday, on The Old White TPC at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.
 
It marks the first time in program history the Mountaineers have hosted the championship as the program resumed varsity competition in the  2015-16 season.
 
WVU, ranked No. 48  by Golfstat, will welcome No. 1 Oklahoma State, No. 6 Texas, No. 7 Oklahoma, No. 10 Texas Tech, No. 25 Baylor, No. 31 Iowa State, No. 33 TCU, No. 37 Kansas and No. 64 Kansas State to The Greenbrier. Though Oklahoma is the defending Big 12 Champion, Oklahoma State is the defending National Champion. The individual medalist will earn an exemption into The Greenbrier's PGA TOUR event in the fall.
 
Golfers will play on the par-70, 7,292-yard course, The Old White TPC, with two rounds on Friday followed by one each on Saturday and Sunday. The Mountaineers are seeded at No. 9 and paired with the No. 10 K-State Wildcats. They will tee off hole No. 1 on Friday at 9:30 a.m., with the second round to follow approximately five-and-a-half hours later.
 
"The Greenbrier has a lot of history and tradition, obviously," coach Sean Covich said. "With Sam Sead, it's hosted a Ryder Cup before, it hosts a PGA TOUR event every single year. When people think of golf in West Virginia, it's probably the first thing they think of. Our rotation for championships traditionally goes Southern Hills in Tulsa, Prairie Dunes in Kansas and Whispering Pines in Texas. All of those are great golf courses, and we felt like this would fit into that mold of great championship golf courses."
 
Sophomore Matthew Sharpstene, senior Max Sear, junior Etienne Papineau, sophomore Logan Perkins and junior Philipp Matlari make up the WVU lineup. Sear boasts the most experience with three Big 12 Championship appearances on his resume. His best finish came during his freshman season in 2016 when he placed 12th in WVU's first-ever Big 12 appearance. Papineau played in 2017 and 2018, while Sharpstene made his debut in 2018. He just missed earning all-conference honors, finishing T-11th.
 
Perkins and Matlari will each make their Big 12 debut. WVU previously used the same lineup at The Cabarrus County Irish Creek Collegiate as well as the Rutherford Intercollegiate.
 
Sharpstene ranked No. 68 in the nation, leads the Mountaineers with a 70.70 stroke average. He boasts seven top-15 finishes on the season, including four top-10 finishes.
 
Sear is second on the team with a 71.52 scoring average, followed by Papineau at 71.96. Sear posted the Mountaineers' first individual win in October at The Health Plan Mountaineer Invitational and added top-5 finish at the Tavistock later in the month. Sharpstene, Sear and Papineau have appeared in all 10 events this season.
 
Perkins has appeared in the lineup on six occasions and has played eight events for WVU, claiming a trio of top-20 finishes. Matlari boasts a pair of top-20 finishes on the year.