August 16, 2011

Tech golf teams to play on familiar courses during 2011 fall season

The Tennessee Tech women's and men's golf teams will be teeing it up on several familiar courses this fall when first-year head coach Polk Brown takes the Golden Eagles through the 2011 fall schedules.

View the 2011 women's fall schedule
View the 2011 men's fall schedule

COOKEVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tennessee Tech women's and men's golf teams will be teeing it up on several familiar courses this fall when first-year head coach Polk Brown takes the Golden Eagles through the 2011 fall schedules. The Tech women's team will play in five events while the men's team is scheduled for four tournaments, and the Tech teams have played in all nine of these in previous seasons.

The Golden Eagle women will play two tournaments in both Alabama and Kentucky and one in North Carolina. The fall season begins Sept. 4-6 at the Chris Banister Classic, a 54-hole, three-day event at the Silver Lakes Golf Course in Jacksonville, Ala. A week later, Tech will be at Murray State's 54-hole, two-day Drake Creek Invitational, Sept. 12-13. Week three has the Tech women playing in the Great Smokies Invitational at the Waynesville Inn Golf Resort and Spa, a 36-hole event hosted by Western Carolina.

In October, Tech plays in the F&M Bank Intercollegiate, a 36-hole tournament hosted by Austin Peay on Oct. 10-11 at The Links at Novadell in Hopkinsville, Ky. The fall season wraps up on the Gulf Coast, Oct. 31-Nov. 1, at the UAB Beach Blast, a two-day, 36-hole tournament at the Peninsula Golf and Racquet Club in Gulf Shores, Ala.

The 2011-12 roster will feature five returnees plus one newcomer in freshman Madalyn Everts. She joins senior Katherine Bell, junior Amanda Randolph, and sophomores Katy Beth Glover, Amber Shepherd and Brandy VanEtten.

"All the girls will be getting to play immediately as the season starts in just the second week of the academic year," Brown said. "That being said, there is a little time for preparation, and I hope that the ladies have worked extremely hard over the summer. There is a tremendous amount of potential and talent on this team, and they have a great chance of being extremely successful this year. I look forward to seeing how their respective games have shaped into form since last year's OVC Championship."

All four of the tournaments on the Tech men's schedule are two-day, 54-hole events hosted by Ohio Valley Conference teams. The Golden Eagle men kick off the fall season Sept. 12-13 in Pineville, Ky., at the Wasioto Winds Fall Kick-Off Invitational, tourney hosted by Morehead State. Three weeks later, Tech plays at the Murray State Invitational, Oct. 3-4, at the Miller Memorial Golf Course. The third tournament is UT Martin's Skyhawk Classic, Oct. 10-11, at Paris Landing State Park. The team's final event of the fall is the Oct. 17-18 F&M Bank Intercollegiate, hosted by Austin Peay at The Links at Novadell in Hopkinsville, Ky.

"As I look at our tournaments for this fall, I see an opportunity to make an early statement as it pertains to the rest of the teams in the OVC," Brown said. "Each tournament host is an OVC member, so it is important for our team to set a tone early. I am so excited to get out there with these men and see how we stack up against the rest of our OVC opponents. I have high expectations for my players, and I truly believe we can make some noise to start out the 2011-2012 campaign. There is no question that this team can do some special things throughout the course of this year."

The men's roster features two freshmen who join a nucleus of five returnees. Newcomers Taylor Diegel and Max Verble will join seniors Tyler Cassetty and Travis Ramsey, junior Lee Maxwell, and sophomores Mason Griffin, Greg Kitts and Sam Schrock.