No. 67 Troy Men’s Golf Heads to Tiger Invitational

TROY, Alabama – The No. 67 Troy men's golf team hits the road this weekend to take on a loaded field at the Tiger Invitational Presented by Jason Dufner at the Grand National Lake Course in Opelika, Ala.

The Trojans have already climbed 13 spots in the Golfstat national rankings since the start of the spring season thanks to an impressive sixth-place finish at the All-American Intercollegiate, which featured five teams ranked in the top 40.

The 18-team field at the Tiger Invitational features 10 teams ranked in the top 100 – No. 5 Auburn, No. 25 Kentucky, No. 60 Kennesaw State, No. 61 Kansas State, No. 68 UNC Greensboro, No. 73 Georgia State, No. 75 Ohio State, No. 78 VCU and No. 89 UNC Wilmington. The rest of the field includes Jacksonville State, Minnesota, Mississippi State, Notre Dame, Southeastern Louisiana, South Alabama, Tulsa and Auburn's B-team.

Last year's Tiger Invitational kickstarted Troy's run towards an at-large berth in the NCAA Regionals as the Trojans finished second and catapulted all the way to No. 35 in the national rankings following the event.

There is not much separation at the top of Troy's lineup as Jared Bettcher and Luke Moser have identical 72.88 stroke averages and Clayton Vannoy is only three overall shots behind with a 73.06 average through 17 rounds.

Vannoy tied for third at the All-American Intercollegiate with a career-low 5-under 211, which already gives the junior three top-10 finishes on the year in six events. Vannoy leads the Trojans with seven rounds under par on the year and with a 72.0 average in opening rounds.

Bettcher, who tied for 16^th at last year's Tiger Invitational, is the lone Trojan to have all 17 individual rounds count towards the team card this year. He is tied with Moser for the team lead with three rounds in the 60s and tied with Cam Norman for third on the team with four rounds under par.

Troy's best closer has been Moser with his 72.17 average in the final rounds of tournaments this year. His six rounds under par rank second on the team behind Vannoy, while his second-place finish at the Sun Belt Preview is the best of the year by a Troy golfer.

Norman enters the Tiger Invitational with a 74.76 stroke average on the season thanks to those four rounds under par, while Calum Masters has posted a 77.24 stroke average over the first 17 rounds of his collegiate career.

The Trojans will be in the first paring off the back nine in Sunday's opening round. Troy will be joined by Tulsa and UNC Wilmington in the 7:45 a.m. grouping.

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Players Mentioned

Jared Bettcher

Calum Masters

Luke Moser

Cam Norman

Clayton Vannoy