BURLINGTON, N.C. – The Elon University men’s golf team is set to host its annual Elon Phoenix Invitational, Oct. 16-17, at Alamance Country Club. The opening round is scheduled to begin on Monday morning at 8:45 a.m. with a shotgun start. The first day will be 36 holes of continuous play. The final round will take place on Tuesday and will begin with tee times starting at 8 a.m.
“We’re excited to host the Phoenix Invitational for the third straight year and compete on our home golf course,” said head coach Don Hill. “We’ve shown steady improvement this season since our first round at the Patriot Intercollegiate. We had very competitive qualifying from our team leading up to this tournament and I expect our players to compete at the highest level over the next two days. We hope to see all of our fans out here at Alamance Country Club to support the Phoenix.”
There are a total 16 schools competing in the tournament. The Phoenix will field two full teams and also have two competing as individuals. In addition to Elon, the other schools competing as teams include Appalachian State, Delaware, Drexel, Towson, Gardner-Webb, High Point, Presbyterian College, Radford, George Washington, George Mason, Western Carolina, Morehead State, Longwood and LaSalle. Wake Forest will have players competing as individuals only.
The final round will start on Tuesday at 8 a.m. and tee times will be based on scores from the first two rounds on Monday. For more information on Alamance Country Club, please visit their website at www.alamancecountryclub.com.
LINEUPS
Elon will have all 12 of its golfers on the roster compete in the Phoenix Invitational. The Phoenix will divide up into two teams and additionally have two compete as individuals. Below are the lineups for this year’s tournament:
Elon – Team A Lineup
1. Jake Leavitt
2. William Harwood
3. Quade Lukes
4. Patrick Frodigh
5. Charlie May
Elon – Team B Lineup
1. Dustin Blank
2. Philip Loeb
3. William Frodigh
4. Robert Seebold
5. Graham Hutchinson
Elon Individuals
Logan Membrino
Steven Segrist
THE CHAMP IS BACK!
Reigning 2016 Phoenix Invitational co-champion Jake Leavitt is back for his senior season. The Woodstock, Md. native earned a share of the individual title as last year’s tournament, shooting career-best 10 under-par 203 for his first career individual title as a Phoenix. Leavitt also carded a career-low 66 in the second round and posted a 36-hole low of 133. He is already off to a good start in 2017-18 with two top-20 finishes, including a 18th place finish at the Patriot Intercollegiate and a spot in 13th at the Hummingbird Intercollegiate.
ABOUT THE PHOENIX
The Phoenix returns eight golfers from last season and made four additions for the 2017-18 campaign. Elon has started its 2017-18 season off with two top-five finishes, which includes a fifth place finish at the Patriot Intercollegiate and a runner-up finish at the Hummingbird Intercollegiate. The maroon and gold has had eight total top-30 individual finishers in its first two tournaments of the season, including four finishing in the top-15 at the Hummingbird Intercollegiate at Western Carolina. Quade Lukes and William Harwood have been the highlight as Elon’s two top-10 individual finishes this season. Lukes earned a tie for third at the Patriot Intercollegiate and Harwood finished in a tie for 10th at the Hummingbird Intercollegiate.
LAST TIME AT THE PHOENIX INVITATIONAL
Jake Leavitt finished tied for first individually and Elon placed third last season at the 2016 Phoenix Invitational. Leavitt shared the individual title with George Mason’s Eric Edwards and North Carolina’s Jose Montano at 10-under par. The individual title is Leavitt’s first of his career. The Phoenix had a total of four players finish in the top-30 among individuals, which included Philip Loeb (T12), Charlie May (T23) and William Harwood (T26). Gardner-Webb won the team title at 22-under par (277-281-272–830) while Elon finished one shot back of second place at 3-under par (283-282-284–849) after shooting even par in the final round.