University of Missouri
SunTrust Gator Invitational
@MizzouMensGolf Launches Spring Season on Saturday at Gator Invitational
2/14/2019 12:26:00 PM | Men's Golf
The two-day tournament tees off at 7 a.m. CT on Saturday
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Mizzou Men's Golf launches its spring season this weekend at the Suntrust Gator Invitational in Gainesville, Fla. The Tigers tee it up on the par-70, 6,701-yard Mark Bostick Golf Course on Saturday. Play will begin with a shotgun start at 7 a.m. CT.
Mizzou will play 36 holes on Saturday and wrap up the two-day tournament with a final 18-hole round on Sunday.
Mark Leroux's squad will be facing a strong field this weekend with eight of the 15 teams ranked in the top-50 according to golfstat.com. Some of these teams include conference rivals No. 5 Vanderbilt, No. 46 Florida, and No. 49 Mississippi St., while also featuring top programs like No. 19 North Florida, No. 30 USF and No. 29 Liberty.
Mizzou put together a stellar fall campaign that saw the Tigers finish in the top five as a team at four of their five tournaments, including a title at the Turning Stone Tiger Intercollegiate and, most recently, a second-place finish at the Warrior Princeville Makai Invitational in October. Leroux enters the spring season just two team tournament titles shy of 50 in his career.
Standout sophomore Jamie Stewart (Renfrewshire, Scotland) will lead the Black & Gold to Florida after a strong fall semester averaging 70.5 strokes per round with three top-10 finishes. At last year's Suntrust Gator Invitational, Stewart started off strong firing back-to-back rounds of 69. The sophomore is currently ranked in the top-10 in the nation for most birdies made with a total of 69 birdies and is looking to carry that momentum into the rest of the 2018-2019 season.
Following Stewart in the lineup is junior Rory Franssen (Iverness, Scotland) who had a standout finish at the Suntrust Gator Invitational his freshman year firing 69-68-68—205 to finish second overall in the tournament. The junior is coming off a strong finish from the fall season where he marked his current lowest 54-hole tournament total of the 2018-2019 season (70-70-67—207) and finished tied for sixth with fellow Scotland native Jamie Stewart.
The senior duo of Matt Echelmeier (Columbia, Mo.) and Luigi Botta (Cueno, Italy) hold down the third and fourth spot in the lineup. Echelmeier has been a consistent player on the team's lineup with a scoring average of 72.8 in the fall. Both are looking to begin their last campaigns as Tigers on a high note.
Rounding out the Tigers' lineup for the Suntrust Gator Invitational will be freshman Tommy Boone (Plano, Texas). It marks the second time in his career Boone has secured a spot in the lineup.
Live results throughout the Suntrust Gator Invitational will be available on GolfStat.com here.
For all the latest on Mizzou Men's Golf, stay tuned to MUTigers.com or follow on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook (@MizzouMensGolf).
