Panther Invitational return on deck for No. 22/23 Eagles
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The halfway mark of the spring 2020 slate takes No. 22/23 Carson-Newman to the Sunshine State for the Panther Invitational at the Duran Golf Club in Viera, Fla. this week.
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The halfway mark of the spring 2020 slate takes No. 22/23 Carson-Newman to the Sunshine State for the Panther Invitational at the Duran Golf Club in Viera, Fla. this week.
This is the third time the Eagles have taken part in the event hosted by No. 12/12 Florida Tech and the first appearance since 2018. That season, coach Randy Wylie's group finished in fourth-place after making 19-shot improvement from the second to third round to go 29-over with three players in the top 20 of the field.
The Eagles are a mere four days removed from a fifth-place finish at the Hurricane Invitational. Both Tom Forster (Oundle, England) and Fergus Robinson (Towcester, England) were the only Orange and Blue players to land in the top 20 of the field, landing at fifth and 13th, respectively.
For the first time since the start of the 2016 fall season, Carson-Newman will be working with a lineup that does not include Forster. There have been just two events in this campaign that have seen Forster not in the No. 1 spot for the Eagles. This time, that spot will be held by Robinson. This is the junior's first leading spot for C-N, currently sitting with a 74.4 scoring average through 17 rounds.
Of the group that played in Albany, Ga. last week, three other starters will be making the trek to Florida this week with Robinson.
Fintan McKenna (Aberdeen, Scotland) moves into the No. 2 spot this week, marking his highest start since the Queens Invitational when he was the second man. The senior's stroke average on the year moved to an even 74 after three-over outing at the Hurricane Invitational, tying for 35th.
Like McKenna, Jake Mynatt (Knoxville, Tenn.) will make his seventh-straight start in the 2019-20 campaign, playing at the three-hole. The sophomore was seven-over in Albany, Ga. last week, now giving him a 74.0 scoring clip this season.
Will Collins (Knoxville, Tenn.) makes his first starting appearance since the 2019 NCAA South/Southeast Regional last May. The only event the sophomore has on his scorecard this season was with the B-Team at the Walters State Fall Classic back in October, finishing at ninth-place with a six-over 150.
Rounding out the starting lineup this week for the Eagles is Zach Young (Crossville, Tenn.), playing as the No. 5 for a second-straight event. He landed at 53rd in last week's Hurricane Invitational at 10-over. Through eight rounds of play, the sophomore is at a 75.1 scoring average.
C-N and the hosting Panthers will be joined by one other team that is also ranked in both the Golfstat and Golf Coaches' Association of America polls, that being No.2/1 Barry who won last season's event with a five-under showing.
The three-day event gets rolling on Sunday morning. Both Sunday and Monday rounds will start with normal tee-times at 7:30 a.m. while a shotgun start will get Tuesday's final round rolling at 8 a.m. Fans can follow C-N's progress through live scoring on Golfstat before an extensive recap with results of the day heads to cneagles.com.
