March 7, 2015 Season Statistics
JACKSON, Tenn. - The Missouri State men's golf team will play its second tournament of the spring at the Grover Page Classic, hosted by Tennessee Martin, on Monday and Tuesday.
The Bears, who are coming off of a 14th-place finish at the Loyola Golf Invitational Feb. 24, look for improvement in a 13-team field at the 6,783-yard, par-72 Jackson Country Club. The tournament is slated for 8:30 a.m., shotgun starts both days with 36 holes scheduled for the Monday and 18 Tuesday.
Division I teams competing include Eastern Kentucky, Jackson State, Murray State, Southern Illinois, Tennessee State, Tennessee Tech and host UTM.
"We are looking forward to competing again this week in Tennessee," Missouri State head coach Neal Stafford said. "Our preparations have been a little limited due to the weather the last two weeks, but we'll be ready to go. We need to make a statement this week and redeem our play from the opening event in Phoenix. I look for a solid focus across the board this week as we continue to move through the spring schedule."
Missouri State will send a lineup of Joey Johnson, Mark Karlsen, Brik Brauburger, Brad Carpenter and Mitch Mather to the course, with Brian Rogers playing as an individual.
Johnson was the Bears' top finisher in Goodyear, Ariz., tying for 14th overall at 3-over par on his way to being named MVC Men's Golfer of the Week. Through six tournaments, the junior leads MSU with a 74.3 scoring average.
Karlsen and Brauburger tied for 80th and 85th, respectively and hope to rebound this week. Freshman Brad Carpenter tied for 51st in Arizona at 11-over-par 227 and was the Bears' second best finisher. He tied his collegiate low with a 74 in the second round.
Mather will be making his spring debut this week. The junior is currently second on team with a 74.6 stroke average after appearing in all five fall tournaments. His best finish thus far this season came in the season-opening Derek Dolenc Invitational where he tied for eighth, shooting 2-over 218.
Rogers, a freshman, will be making his third tournament appearance of the season. He last played in the Bill Ross Intercollegiate, hosted by UMKC, and finished at 18-over 162 with consecutive rounds of 81 in the weather-shortened event.
