FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT Evan O’Kelly Director of Communications O: (406) 657-2130 E: evan.okelly@msubillings.edu Thursday, March 23, 2017 MSUB men’s golf set to host Yellowjacket Invite
MSUB’s men’s golf team will host the Yellowjacket Invite, running Monday and Tuesday at Lake Hills Golf Club in Billings. BILLINGS, Mont. – After a week away from the course, the Montana State University Billings men’s golf team returns home to host the Yellowjacket Spring Invitational running Monday and Tuesday at Lake Hills Golf Club. The 54-hole men’s tournament will feature two rounds on Monday, with the final round scheduled for Tuesday. Tee times are set for 9 a.m. both mornings, with the men’s field featuring eight teams and 53 total golfers. “The guys have been improving, and I think we are headed in the right direction,” said MSUB head coach Kevin Woodin. “We are comfortable playing on our home course this week, and the key will be staying away from big scores. If we can stay away from the doubles or worse, then we can have a really good tournament.”
The men’s field will feature Rocky Mountain College, South Dakota Mines, Montana Tech, Minot State, Carroll College, University of Great Falls, and Miles Community College. The men’s field will play the par-72, 6,802-yard layout throughout the three-round event. Freshman Caleb Stetzner continues to lead the Yellowjackets early in the spring season, holding a scoring average of 73.4 through 17 rounds to rank eighth among Great Northwest Athletic Conference golfers. Stetzner opened his spring season with rounds of 225 (77-73-75) at the Bay Area Invite in late February, before shooting a 224 (72-77-75) last week in Las Vegas. Michael Porter, a senior on the squad, is just over a stroke behind Stetzner with a scoring average of 74.6 also in 17 rounds. Porter led the team in its most recent tournament, shooting a 222 (75-73-74) at the Beaver-Jacket Invite. Fellow senior Connor Miele enters the event No. 3 on the team with a scoring average of 77.1, and holds a single-round best of 68 so far this year. Miele drastically improved between his first two events of the spring, cutting off 28 strokes from a 257 (86-82-89) to a 229 (77-77-75) his last time out. Sophomore Austin Walter will look to build off his 238 (79-79-80) to start the spring, and he’s currently fourth on the team with a scoring average of 77.2. His 65 last fall in Billings stands as the lowest individual round score for the ‘Jackets this season. Freshman Garrett Woodin is coming off his third-best tournament of the year, shooting a 228 (88-75-81) in Las Vegas. Woodin has had a pair of par rounds in his first college season, and holds a scoring average of 77.8. “It was a lot of fun playing in a place like Vegas, and it was 75 and sunny pretty much every day we were down there,” said Woodin. “The main thing for us is working on our scoring within the 10-to-15-foot range, and if we can go out and be aggressive then we can shoot some super low scores.” Sophomore Scott Larson will also compete at the Yellowjackets’ tournament, as an unattached individual. Larson enters the week with a scoring average of 80.8 through a dozen rounds this season. As a team, MSUB ranks fifth in the GNAC with a scoring average of 300.6 through 17 rounds played. This will be the third of four spring tournaments for the Yellowjackets, leading up to the GNAC Championships scheduled for April 24-25 in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. --@MSUBSports | #JacketNation--