Rutgers University
Linger Longer
Men’s Golf Set for Linger Longer Invitational Friday
Mar 18 | Men's Golf
Rutgers men's golf returns to action Friday, March 20, when it travels to Greensboro, Georgia, for the Linger Longer Invitational, co-hosted by Kennesaw State and Mercer at the Great Waters Course at Reynolds Lake Oconee.
The three-day, 54-hole event runs through Sunday and features a strong 18-team field: Kennesaw State, Mercer, West Georgia, Rutgers, Georgia, Virginia Tech, Alabama, Vanderbilt, USF, Jacksonville, Louisiana Tech, Elon, Kentucky, Ohio State, Charlotte, South Alabama, UNCG and Wofford.
The Scarlet Knights enter the weekend with a key opportunity to strengthen their postseason résumé as the regular season winds down.
"This whole spring we've felt like we control our own destiny," head coach Rob Shutte said. "We know we're right on the bubble, but we also know we're a very capable team. There are a lot of good teams out there — college golf has grown a lot and the competition is strong — so sometimes it comes down to just a couple shots."
Rutgers has also seen confidence build within the lineup following a stretch of strong individual performances from sophomore Argyle Downes, sophomore Bennett Espenshade, freshman Lucas Politano, and, most recently, senior Luke Koenig at the Johnnie-O event that RU hosted in Sea Island, Georgia.
"With three straight tournament weeks I think our team has built confidence after seeing strong individual performances across recent events," Luke Koenig said. "We can compete for wins and are focused on finishing the spring season strong heading into the Big Ten Championship."
The Linger Longer Invitational is one of three remaining events before postseason play, making consistency a focal point down the stretch.
"We've got some great events coming up, including the Linger Longer Invitational back down in Georgia and then a very strong field at Big Tens," Shutte added. "We've got three tournaments before the postseason, so if we can stay consistent and put together a couple strong performances, we'll give ourselves a great chance to move on."
Play begins each day at 8:30 a.m., with tee times off No. 1 and No. 10.
"At the end of the day, we'll just keep going back to work," Shutte said. "We're right on the bubble, and it's a good place to be compared to the alternative."
With a deep and competitive field, Rutgers will look to capitalize on another important opportunity this weekend in Georgia.
Players Mentioned
