EL DORADO, Ark. (4/23/21) – The Arkansas State men's golf team travels to El Dorado to compete in the Sun Belt Conference Championship Sunday, April 25, to Wednesday, April 28 at Mystic Creek Golf Club.
The tournament commences Sunday with 54 holes of stroke play over three days on the par-72, 7,181-yard course. A-State will tee off with Georgia Southern and Little Rock from the first tee beginning at 8:30 a.m. Sunday.
The top four teams from the 54-hole stroke play event will advance to match play on Wednesday, April 28. The semifinal matches will tee off beginning at 8:30 a.m. CT—with the No. 4-seed and the No. 1-seed on No. 1 and the No. 3-seed and the No. 2-seed on No. 10. The championship match will tee off from No. 1 following the conclusion of the semifinal matches.
A-State, the reigning champion, leads the field with a 286.00 scoring average this season. Ranked No. 54 in the latest GolfStat rankings, the Red Wolves are joined by top-100 squads Georgia Southern (43), Little Rock (57), Coastal Carolina (86) and Louisiana (99). A-State is 57-22 on the season with 11 top-50 wins, including three against top-15 ranked teams.
Individually,
Julien Sale is the top ranked Sun Belt golfer with a stroke average of 70.56. Sale finished inside the top-10 in four of six events played, including medalist honors at the Bubba Barnett Intercollegiate in the fall. Sale's current scoring average would set a program record, topping the mark of 71.06 set by
Zan Luka Stirn in the 2018-19 season.
Sale and Stirn lead the Red Wolves with each having 12 par or better rounds. Stirn ranks third among Sun Belt golfers with a scoring average of 71.80 and he has finished inside the top-10 in three of seven events this season.
Luka Naglic, the 2019 SBC individual runner-up, ranks tied for seventh among Sun Belt golfers averaging 72.15 with 20 rounds played.
Adam Thorp (74.05) and
Jack Madden (74.20) round out the Red Wolves lineup for the tournament.
All three rounds of stroke play, along with Wednesday's semifinal and championship matches, will be broadcast live on ESPN+ and live scored via Golfstat. For the latest on A-State men's golf, follow the team on Twitter (@AStateMGolf), Facebook (/AStateGolf) and Instagram (@astatemensgolf).
