AUGUSTA, Ga. – Fifth-year head coach Jack O’Keefe announced the 2017-18 Augusta University men’s golf schedule. The new slate sports six tournaments in the fall and four in the spring before the conference championship.
Coming off a Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) championship and a third straight NCAA Regional appearance, Augusta has 11 tournaments overall in another challenging schedule.
“As always, we have one of the best schedules in the country, playing championship courses against quality fields,” O’Keefe said. “We start our season once again at the Ocean Course at Kiawah followed by a trip to the desert in Scottsdale, Arizona to play one of the first desert courses against a tremendous field. The spring semester begins again in California and then we stay pretty close to home the remainder of the spring with tournaments at Palmetto Golf Club, Great Waters at Lake Oconee and then our home event the weekend before The Masters.”
The fall season opens for the second consecutive season at the Ocean Course Invitational Sept. 11-12 in Kiawah Island, S.C., and is followed by the Maui Jim Intercollegiate at Desert Forest in Scottsdale, Ariz., Sept. 22-24.
Next up Augusta heads to the site of the 2017 U.S. Open in Erin Hills, Wis. The Erin Hills Invitational, hosted by Marquette, takes place Oct. 1-3. The Jaguars head back to Georgia for the AutoTrader.com Collegiate Classic Oct. 16-17 in Duluth, Ga.
“We will be a young team with four freshmen, one sophomore and two seniors, but I really like who we have coming in this year to go along with three quality returning guys in Broc, Ryan and Gustav. We will be young, but very talented and I feel this is the team to get us back to the NCAA Finals that will be held in Stillwater, Oklahoma at Karsten Creek, site of Augusta State’s last National Championship back in 2011. I can’t wait to get the season started.”
For the fourth year in a row, Augusta takes a trip to the Tavistock Collegiate Invitational in Orlando, Fla., Oct. 22-24, before they wrap the fall portion of the schedule at the Savannah State Tiger Invitational Oct. 30-31 in Savannah, Ga.
After the holiday break, Augusta returns to action and begins 2018 at the Southwestern Invitational Feb. 26-27 in Westlake Village, Calif. It is the third straight season that Augusta will play in Pepperdine’s home event outside of Malibu.
The annual Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate, hosted by USC Aiken at historic Palmetto Golf Club, runs from March 5-6, followed by the Linger Longer Invitational March 18-20 in Eatonton, Ga.
The Augusta Golf Association (AGA) sponsors the 40th addition of the 3M Augusta Invitational March 30 – April 1 in Augusta, Ga. Hosted by the Jaguars at Forest Hills Golf Club, the 3MAI features some of the top teams in Division I who compete on the eve of The Masters.
The 2018 MEAC Championships date and time are to be determined. Augusta seeks to win its fourth title at the MEAC.
Six sites across the nation play host to the 2018 NCAA Regional Championships from May 14-16. Karsten Creek Golf Club, Oklahoma State’s home course, returns as the host of the NCAA Championships seven years after its latest staging of the event. Augusta knocked off Oklahoma State in a stunning semifinals loss in front of a home crowd at that 2011 NCAA Division I Championship. The Jaguars last competed at Karsten Creek in the 2016 NCAA Regional.