Southern Illinois University’s men’s golf team is set to compete in the Louisiana Classics tournament on March 9–10 at Oakbourne Country Club. The event will be played over two days and 54 holes, with a field of 16 teams. The course is a par 72 and measures 6,866 yards.
Justin Fetcho, director of men’s golf for Southern Illinois, said, “The course will require some discipline off the tee and into the greens. It’s an older country club with lots of trees and doglegs. We will need to make sure we are committed to our game plan for each shot.”
The final day of the tournament, including play on hole No. 9, will be streamed live on ESPN+. Dan McDonald from the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame will provide commentary.
This year’s participating teams include East Tennessee State, Illinois State, Lamar, Little Rock, Louisiana, Louisiana Tech, Michigan, Middle Tennessee State, New Mexico State, North Texas, Oral Roberts, Sam Houston, South Alabama, Southern Illinois [official website], Texas A&M and Texas State.
Southern Illinois enters the tournament ranked No. 92 nationally after finishing in the top ten in its most recent competition. The team has achieved three top-three finishes this season [official website]. The lineup for this event includes Anthony Deschutter (Belgium), Ben Keil (United States), Blake Saffell (United States), Jaeseung Na (South Korea), and Oliver Ulrich (Denmark) [official website].
At their last outing during the Hal Williams Collegiate tournament, Southern Illinois posted its best round of the season but struggled in the second round. Anthony de Schutter led his team by finishing tied for 20th place at two under par.
Fetcho commented on his team’s preparation: “We are ready to get out and compete again. It is another opportunity for us to continue to grow and get better,” he said. “The entire team has been working hard the last few weeks. Now is the time for us to take all that work, along with the mentality that we need to be successful, and put it together this week in competition.”
The Salukis’ roster features nine players from various hometowns across both domestic and international locations [official website]. Members have earned individual titles as well as weekly conference honors while competing as part of Southern Illinois University within the Missouri Valley Conference [official website].
