May 1, 2014
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The Penn State men's golf team will conclude its 2013-14 campaign in French Lick, Ind. for the 2014 Big Ten Championships May 2-4 at the Pete Dye Course.
The field will hit the links for round one beginning at 8 a.m. Friday, followed by the second round at 1 p.m. The third round is slated for 9 a.m. Saturday, with the final 18 holes set for 8 a.m. on Sunday. The Pete Dye course features par 72, 7,152 yardage.
The Nittany Lions will look to best their 11th place finish in 2013. Junior Xander McDonald-Smith (Rockaway Park, N.Y.) will make his third consecutive Big Ten Championship appearance for Penn State. McDonald-Smith placed tied-for-33rd in both 2012 and 2013, shooting a 309 and 305, respectively.
Sophomores JD Dornes (Lancaster, Pa.) and Chris Houston (Gilford, N.H.) will also be returning to the tournament for a second season in a row. Houston paced Penn State in 2013, marking a team-low 303 and finishing tied-for-30th. Dornes will be looking to top his 309 four-round score from a year prior.
Junior Jens Talbert (Little Rock, Ark.) played in the championships as a freshman in 2012, marking a tied-for-28th place finish with a 308. Sophomore Geoff Vartelas (Cromwell, Conn.) will round out the lineup for the Nittany Lions, making his Big Ten Championships debut.
Live scoring for the event will be available on www.GolfStatResults.com and recaps will be posted after each day of the event on the men's golf page of www.GoPSUsports.com.