Blue Raiders head to first team event of spring season

MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Middle Tennessee men's golf returns to the course this week at the Lake Las Vegas Intercollegiate, hosted by Louisiana and Arkansas State at Reflection Bay Golf Club in Henderson, Nev. The tournament will be the first for the Blue Raiders' full lineup this spring.

The Lake Las Vegas Intercollegiate will consist of 18 hole each day, starting a 10 a.m. CT.

In the first competition of the spring for MTSU, Markus Varjun finished in the top 10 of the Thomas Sharkey Individual Collegiate in Statesboro, Ga., earning Conference USA Player of the Week honors.

WEATHER FORECAST
The forecast for the tournament shows windy, overcast conditions with high temperatures in the mid-50s.

NOTES

Owen Stamper tied the lowest round of his collegiate career with a 66 in the third round and set a new 54-hole personal best with a 206 (-10) at the Jim Rivers Intercollegiate.
Stamper leads the Blue Raiders with a scoring average of 70.6.
Varjun and Stamper are the first pair of Blue Raiders to each win multiple Conference USA Player of the Week awards in the same season since MTSU joined the league.
Kevin Jegers recorded individual victories in back-to-back tournaments in 2021-22, each time setting the program 54-hole record.
Michael Barnard's 65 in the third round of last year's Trinity Forest Invitational was the lowest of his career and tied for the fifth-lowest individual round in program history. His 54-hole score of 208 is tied for 22nd.
MTSU returns three of its four players who played in 30 rounds or more in '21-22, including Barnard, Jegers, and Owen Stamper.
The four newcomers to the '22-23 roster include Power 5 transfers Drew Miller (Ole Miss) and Tate Heintzelman (Indiana), and true freshman Sheldon McKnight and Luke Perkins.
Also joining the Blue Raider program are former letterman Payne Denman, who returns as an assistant coach, and former MTSU tennis player Chris Edge, who will serve as a graduate assistant.
The Blue Raiders enter the tournament ranked No. 82 in the Golfweek Collegiate Team Rankings and No. 79 in the most recent Golfstat rankings.

COACH MCENTIRE ON THE BLUE RAIDERS' NEXT CHALLENGE
"Payne and I are very excited about this team and ready to get the spring going. Seems like forever since we played in a tournament. We were very happy with the qualifying process. We had some great competition and have depth that will keep it that way. I know that the team is ready to go play, and we look forward to a good week."

LINEUP
1. Owen Stamper
2. Michael Barnard
3. Kevin Jegers
4. Gavin Clements
5. Markus Varjun
Ind. - Carter Maneth
Ind. - Luke Perkins

TOURNAMENT INFO

	Lake Las Vegas Intercollegiate
Dates	Monday, Feb. 27 - Wednesday, March 1
Course	Reflection Bay Golf Club Henderson, Nev. Par 72, 7,204 yards
Format	18 holes each day
Teams (15)	Arkansas State, Winthrop, Central Arkansas, Michigan, Stetson, UMKC, New Mexico State, Kentucky, UAB, South Florida, Long Beach, Little Rock, Rocky Mountain, Middle Tennessee, Louisiana
Live Scoring	Golfstat

Middle Tennessee State University Athletics

Players Mentioned

Michael Barnard

Gavin Clements

Tate Heintzelman

Kevin Jegers

Carter Maneth

Sheldon McKnight

Drew Miller

Luke Perkins

Owen Stamper

Markus Varjun

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