Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
WVU Tees Off 2019 at The Gopher Invitational This Weekend
September 05, 2019 12:18 PM | Golf
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – The West Virginia University men's golf team hits the ground running this weekend in Independence, Minnesota, when the Mountaineers tee off the 2019-20 season at the Gopher Invitational.
Fifth-year Mountaineer coach Sean Covich says this will be the stiffest challenge his young program has ever encountered to open the fall season.
Fourteen of the 15 participants in this year's event qualified for NCAA regionals last year, including such teams as Arkansas, Baylor, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, San Diego State and host Minnesota.
"It's a major. We're starting off with a major. It's one of the top 25 events," Covich said.
Covich said senior Etienne Papineau will begin the season as the team's No. 1 golfer, the Quebec, Canada, resident earning the spot during qualifying that took place earlier this week.
Nationally ranked junior Matthew Sharpstene will begin the season as the team's No. 2 golfer. The remainder of the starting lineup for this weekend's opener will consist of junior Mark Goetz, freshman Nico Lang and senior Philipp Matlari. Lang and Matlari both hail from Germany.
The team's top six returners boast a combined 300 rounds of collegiate experience.
"I'm excited," Covich said. "This is going to be a great field and we've got to go out and play well."
Play begins Sunday morning at Windsong Farm Golf Club in Independence, Minnesota.
West Virginia's fall schedule will continue with a late September stop in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to play in the two-day Old Town Club Collegiate Invitational, Sept. 23-24.
WVU will host The Health Plan Mountaineer Invitational at Pete Dye Golf Club in Bridgeport, West Virginia, Oct. 7-8 and then WVU will be in Houston, Texas, for the three-day Big 12 Match Play Championship, Oct. 11-13.
West Virginia will conclude the fall with a pair of big-time events in Windermere, Florida, for the Tavistock Collegiate Invitational and in Lahaiana, Hawaii for the Ka'Anapali Classic Collegiate Invitational.
This year's Tavistock Invitational will take place on Oct. 21-22, while the three-day Ka'Anapali Classic is scheduled for Nov. 1-3.
Fifth-year Mountaineer coach Sean Covich says this will be the stiffest challenge his young program has ever encountered to open the fall season.
Fourteen of the 15 participants in this year's event qualified for NCAA regionals last year, including such teams as Arkansas, Baylor, Oklahoma, Texas A&M, San Diego State and host Minnesota.
"It's a major. We're starting off with a major. It's one of the top 25 events," Covich said.
Covich said senior Etienne Papineau will begin the season as the team's No. 1 golfer, the Quebec, Canada, resident earning the spot during qualifying that took place earlier this week.
Nationally ranked junior Matthew Sharpstene will begin the season as the team's No. 2 golfer. The remainder of the starting lineup for this weekend's opener will consist of junior Mark Goetz, freshman Nico Lang and senior Philipp Matlari. Lang and Matlari both hail from Germany.
The team's top six returners boast a combined 300 rounds of collegiate experience.
"I'm excited," Covich said. "This is going to be a great field and we've got to go out and play well."
Play begins Sunday morning at Windsong Farm Golf Club in Independence, Minnesota.
West Virginia's fall schedule will continue with a late September stop in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to play in the two-day Old Town Club Collegiate Invitational, Sept. 23-24.
WVU will host The Health Plan Mountaineer Invitational at Pete Dye Golf Club in Bridgeport, West Virginia, Oct. 7-8 and then WVU will be in Houston, Texas, for the three-day Big 12 Match Play Championship, Oct. 11-13.
West Virginia will conclude the fall with a pair of big-time events in Windermere, Florida, for the Tavistock Collegiate Invitational and in Lahaiana, Hawaii for the Ka'Anapali Classic Collegiate Invitational.
This year's Tavistock Invitational will take place on Oct. 21-22, while the three-day Ka'Anapali Classic is scheduled for Nov. 1-3.
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