Feb. 21, 2015 Live Results | Season Statistics
GOODYEAR, Ariz. - The Missouri State men's golf team opens the spring portion of its 2014-15 season at the Loyola Golf Invitational, sponsored by Neville Kovacs Group Sunday, Monday and Tuesday at Palm Valley Golf Club.
The Bears are one of 15 full teams at the event, and will tee off on the 7,015-yard, par-72 course at 10:10 a.m., Central time on Sunday. The tournament features two teams in the top 100 of the in the current Golfweek rankings as both No. 82 Missouri and tournament-host and No. 94 Loyola (Md.) are scheduled to compete. Eighteenth-ranked Arizona State will also bring three individuals to the event.
"We are excited to get season started in a great part of the country," said Missouri State head coach Neal Stafford. "We've been fortunate to play and practice quite a bit since semester has started, aside from this past week. It's going to be just a great opportunity for our program to play in this event, and we are ready to start competing and see where we are at."
Junior Joey Johnson, senior Mark Karlsen, junior Brik Brauburger and freshmen John Fuchs and Brad Carpenter will compete for the Bears this week.
Johnson was one of three Missouri State golfers to compete in all five fall tournaments. His best outing came in a weather-shortened UMKC Bill Ross Invitational where the Ozark native shot a 74-76--150 to tie for eighth place overall. Johnson is tied for third on the team with a 74.6 scoring average through 12 rounds this season.
Karlsen was arguably MSU's most-improved player in the fall, finishing second at the season-opening Derek Dolenc Invitational at SIUE with a 3-under 154. He is second on the team in scoring average heading into play on Sunday, and boasts three even-par rounds and one under-par round so far this season. The Alleroed, Denmark, native is averaging 74.3 strokes per round.
Brauburger leads the team with a 74 scoring average in four tournaments thus far and has posted two under-par rounds and an even-par round. His best finish this season came at the final event of the fall, the Jim Rivers Intercollegiate. He finished 13th overall with a 1-over-par 217 to lead the Bears.
Fuchs, a Springfield native, will make his second collegiate start this week in Arizona. He shot 75-86--161 in his debut for Missouri State at the Mark Simpson Colorado Invitational Sept. 29-30.
Carpenter played three tournaments in the fall with his top effort coming in the opener at SIUE. The Washington, Mo., native tied for 34th, shooting 10-over 226. He posted a season-low, second-round 74 in that event.
Missouri State will tee off between 9-11:20 on Monday with a 9 a.m., shotgun start for Tuesday's final round.
