43rd Rutherford Intercollegiate Digital Program
Round 1 Tee Times (Saturday, April 13)
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's golf team plays host to the Rutherford Intercollegiate Saturday-Sunday, April 13-14 at the Penn State Blue Course. Thirteen teams will compete in the 43rd edition of the tournament named in honor of R.B. "Pop" Rutherford, Sr., known as the "father of Penn State golf." Rutherford, Sr., was the program's coach from the team's inception in 1922 until 1949.
The 54-hole event at the Blue Course at the Penn State Golf Courses plays at a par 71 with a 7,219-yard layout with two rounds beginning at 7:30 a.m. ET on Saturday, April 13 and a final 18 holes on Sunday, April 14 beginning at 8:00 a.m. ET.
In addition to host institution Penn State, Connecticut, Cornell, Dayton, Eastern Michigan, Georgetown, Loyola (Md.), Oakland, Seton Hall, West Virginia, William & Mary, and fellow Big Ten schools Minnesota and Rutgers, comprise the field.
Penn State returns to competition for the first time since March 17 after back-to-back March tournaments in Bluffton, South Carolina, the Colleton River Collegiate Invitational, and the Linger Longer Invitational at Reynolds Lake Oconee in Georgia. The Nittany Lions have had focused practices in recent weeks with the Rutherford Intercollegiate beginning a stretch run before the Big Ten Championships at the Philadelphia Cricket Club April 26-28.
"We were very fortunate to play at Colleton River and at the Linger Longer this year, which are terrific sites. Our play in both was very good in spots but not through the lineup," said head men's golf coach Greg Nye.
"If we get contributions though the lineup we can be as good as anyone, and that's really the way we played at Duke when we won down there (at the Rod Myer Invitational)," Nye continued. "That needs to return and we've seen some evidence of that in the last two weeks at home during our qualifying."
Fans are welcome to watch the completion over the weekend and are expected to be vigilant in watching for golf balls that may appear from any direction or angle. Free coffee and donuts will be available for all fans in attendance on Sunday, April 14 from 7:00-9:00 a.m. ET and spectators will have the chance to win a gift card.
Seniors JD Hughes, Charles Huntzinger and Ryan Dornes will play their final home tournament with juniors Ryan Davis and Alec Bard in the Penn State lineup this weekend. Five Nittany Lions, Hunter Bruce, Lukas Clark, Ryan Lee, James McHugh and Louis Olsakovsky, will compete as individuals, and Bruce and Lee make their collegiate debuts.
In 2018, Nittany Lion senior Cole Miller claimed the individual championship with a 7-under 206 as he helped lead Penn State to its fourth-straight team title. Three of the top five finishers from 2018, West Virginia senior Max Sear (67-70-72=209), the individual runner-up last year, Seton Hall's Chris Yeom (69-69-73=211) and Hughes (72-69-70=211), will vie for the individual title.
Scoring for the tournament will be available at the end of each round at golfstat.com with recaps available following 36 holes Saturday and the final 18 on Sunday at gopsusports.com.
For the latest updates on the team follow @PennStateMGolf on Twitter, "like" the Penn State Men's Golf page on Facebook, and follow head coach Greg Nye on Instagram @CoachNyePSU.
