Middle Tennesee State University Athletics
Friday, March 12
Lake Oconee, GA
Middle Tennessee
at
Linger Longer Invitational
Raiders eye piece of history at Linger Longer Invitational
3/11/2021 6:30:00 PM | Men's Golf, BRAA
EATONTON, Ga. — A rare chance at history awaits Middle Tennessee at the Linger Longer Invitational this weekend, hosted by Mercer.
Winners of three tournaments in a row, the Blue Raiders can tie the program's longest winning streak, set during the historic 2007-08 season, with another victory.
"We've really come together the past few tournaments, and what we have right now is some great team chemistry. Everybody is doing great and getting along great," head coach Mark McEntire said. "We have a bunch of big boys in the field this week, so we can kind of validate everything we've done to this point with a good week."
The Linger Longer, held from Friday-Sunday at Great Waters at Reynolds Lake Oconee, has a talented field. Middle Tennessee will have to contend with Conference USA foes LA Tech and Charlotte, host Mercer, Kennesaw State, Florida Gulf Coast, Georgia State, Virginia, Augusta, North Alabama, Toledo, Chattanooga, Georgia Tech, Memphis, Troy and High Point.
Georgia Tech leads the field in the latest Golfweek rankings released Monday, going into the weekend No. 44. Virginia is 53, while Charlotte is 54, Florida Gulf Coast 85 and MT comes in at 89.
Though they aren't ranked the highest in the field, the Blue Raiders have plenty of momentum on their side.
After hosting and winning the Intercollegiate at The Grove in October to close out the fall, MT kicked off the spring in style with back-to-back wins at the Raines Company Intercollegiate on Feb. 6-7 and Southern Invitational on March 1-2.
"[The streak has] been a lot of fun. It's been really nice to see the hard work we've put in pay off and to see everybody's game come together at the same time," redshirt sophomore Michael Barnard said. "We're going to face some good competition this week … but we're just trying to keep working hard and keep gradually improving."
The last win was maybe the sweetest, as the blue and white responded to final-round pressure with a smooth 17-under-par team score, tied for the second-best round in program history. All six Raiders finished even par or better on the week and tied for 16th or better in the field of 69.
McEntire's icing on the cake was seeing both a true freshman and graduate student lead the team. Freshman Owen Stamper and graduate Connor McKay tied for fourth overall with 5-under-par totals of 211. Stamper carded a 7-under 65 in the final round, the third-lowest single round in program history.
Barnard and senior Tanner Owens currently lead the team this season with identical 72.3 stroke averages in 14 rounds played. McKay is right behind them at 72.9, and freshmen Stamper, Kevin Jegers and Gavin Clements are all in the 73s.
Getting that type of production from both young players and older veterans has been encouraging to see for McEntire, and the blend of the roster has created great team chemistry.
"Our team chemistry is incredible. The competition level we have is insane. Everything we do is a competition," Barnard said. "We're really pushing each other to be the best we can be, and that's really helped us in the long run."
Middle Tennessee has won three tournaments in a row two separate times in its history — the four in a row in 2007-08 and three in a row during the 2010-11 season. This year's team is also one of just five to win at least three times in a season, joining the 2007-08 Blue Raiders (program-record five victories), 2009-10 (three), 2010-11 (three) and 2017-18 (three).
Continued success really has been MT's M.O. since McEntire took over after the successful NCAA Regional run in 2018. Those expecting a drop off following the banner year didn't see it, as the Blue Raiders won the C-USA title the following season and made it back to a Regional yet again.
The current three-tournament winning streak are McEntire's first regular season wins at MT, and it's easy to see many more coming his way with the young talent on the roster and older veterans showing them how to compete. The program also has a new, top-of-the-line facility under construction at The Grove that promises to be one of the finest homes for college golf in the country.
"When you look back at the teams here that were really successful, the biggest thing they had was they didn't like to lose to each other. We kind of have that going on right now. … They're just pushing each other and feeding off each other, and that's been fun to see," McEntire said. "There are a lot of good things going on here, and we've been able to get it in front of some people who've bought in and given us a chance.
"The Grove is going to be the epicenter of golf in Tennessee for the next five to 10 years. For us to be involved with them … that's allowed us to become more of a national program."
Make sure to keep track of the Blue Raiders this week at the Linger Longer Invitational on Golfstat. They tee off in the first round Friday morning at 8:20 a.m. CT.
Winners of three tournaments in a row, the Blue Raiders can tie the program's longest winning streak, set during the historic 2007-08 season, with another victory.
"We've really come together the past few tournaments, and what we have right now is some great team chemistry. Everybody is doing great and getting along great," head coach Mark McEntire said. "We have a bunch of big boys in the field this week, so we can kind of validate everything we've done to this point with a good week."
The Linger Longer, held from Friday-Sunday at Great Waters at Reynolds Lake Oconee, has a talented field. Middle Tennessee will have to contend with Conference USA foes LA Tech and Charlotte, host Mercer, Kennesaw State, Florida Gulf Coast, Georgia State, Virginia, Augusta, North Alabama, Toledo, Chattanooga, Georgia Tech, Memphis, Troy and High Point.
Georgia Tech leads the field in the latest Golfweek rankings released Monday, going into the weekend No. 44. Virginia is 53, while Charlotte is 54, Florida Gulf Coast 85 and MT comes in at 89.
Though they aren't ranked the highest in the field, the Blue Raiders have plenty of momentum on their side.
After hosting and winning the Intercollegiate at The Grove in October to close out the fall, MT kicked off the spring in style with back-to-back wins at the Raines Company Intercollegiate on Feb. 6-7 and Southern Invitational on March 1-2.
"[The streak has] been a lot of fun. It's been really nice to see the hard work we've put in pay off and to see everybody's game come together at the same time," redshirt sophomore Michael Barnard said. "We're going to face some good competition this week … but we're just trying to keep working hard and keep gradually improving."
The last win was maybe the sweetest, as the blue and white responded to final-round pressure with a smooth 17-under-par team score, tied for the second-best round in program history. All six Raiders finished even par or better on the week and tied for 16th or better in the field of 69.
McEntire's icing on the cake was seeing both a true freshman and graduate student lead the team. Freshman Owen Stamper and graduate Connor McKay tied for fourth overall with 5-under-par totals of 211. Stamper carded a 7-under 65 in the final round, the third-lowest single round in program history.
Barnard and senior Tanner Owens currently lead the team this season with identical 72.3 stroke averages in 14 rounds played. McKay is right behind them at 72.9, and freshmen Stamper, Kevin Jegers and Gavin Clements are all in the 73s.
Getting that type of production from both young players and older veterans has been encouraging to see for McEntire, and the blend of the roster has created great team chemistry.
"Our team chemistry is incredible. The competition level we have is insane. Everything we do is a competition," Barnard said. "We're really pushing each other to be the best we can be, and that's really helped us in the long run."
Middle Tennessee has won three tournaments in a row two separate times in its history — the four in a row in 2007-08 and three in a row during the 2010-11 season. This year's team is also one of just five to win at least three times in a season, joining the 2007-08 Blue Raiders (program-record five victories), 2009-10 (three), 2010-11 (three) and 2017-18 (three).
Continued success really has been MT's M.O. since McEntire took over after the successful NCAA Regional run in 2018. Those expecting a drop off following the banner year didn't see it, as the Blue Raiders won the C-USA title the following season and made it back to a Regional yet again.
The current three-tournament winning streak are McEntire's first regular season wins at MT, and it's easy to see many more coming his way with the young talent on the roster and older veterans showing them how to compete. The program also has a new, top-of-the-line facility under construction at The Grove that promises to be one of the finest homes for college golf in the country.
"When you look back at the teams here that were really successful, the biggest thing they had was they didn't like to lose to each other. We kind of have that going on right now. … They're just pushing each other and feeding off each other, and that's been fun to see," McEntire said. "There are a lot of good things going on here, and we've been able to get it in front of some people who've bought in and given us a chance.
"The Grove is going to be the epicenter of golf in Tennessee for the next five to 10 years. For us to be involved with them … that's allowed us to become more of a national program."
Make sure to keep track of the Blue Raiders this week at the Linger Longer Invitational on Golfstat. They tee off in the first round Friday morning at 8:20 a.m. CT.
Players Mentioned
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