GAINESVILLE, Fla. – The Penn State men’s golf team opens the spring portion of its 2025-26 season Saturday and Sunday when the Nittany Lions compete in the Gators Invitational hosted by the University of Florida at the Mark Bostick Golf Course.
SETTING THE STAGE
- This week’s tournament field is compiled of 97 players and 18 teams, with five occupying spots in the top-25 as well as each of the last three NCAA National Champions, as the Nittany Lions and host 10th-ranked Gators are joined by Furman, West Virginia, Florida Atlantic, Liberty, UCF, No. 12 Oklahoma State, Tennessee Chattanooga, Indiana, South Florida, Jacksonville University, Florida Gulf Coast, North Florida, Georgia Southern, No. 2 Auburn, No. 20 UNC Charlotte, and No. 21 Notre Dame.
- Individually the field features top talent in the World Amatuer Golf Rankings with 21 top-200 players, 17 top-150 players, 15 top-100 players, 8 top-50 players, 4 top-10 players and 3 of the top-5 players in the world.
- The Par-70, 6,701-yard Mark Bostick Golf Course was originally designed by Donald Ross in the 1920’s and has evolved over the years to take on its own distinct personality. Short by today’s standard at just 6,701 fully tipped out, a $4 million renovation project in 2001 by Jacksonville-based architect Bobby Weed transformed the contour of the landscape, creating a course that is both physically and mentally challenging.
- Saturday will feature 36 holes of continuous play following a 7:20 a.m. modified shotgun start with Sunday’s final round featuring split tee times off No. 1 and No. 10 beginning at 8 a.m.
- Live scoring for the event can be found HERE.
THE TEAM
- Junior Alex Creamean paced the Nittany Lions in the fall with four top-20 finishes including a pair of top-5’s including his best finish as a Nittany Lion at the Moraine Intercollegiate where he tied for second at 7-under, 206. Creamean posted a 70.29 stroke average in the fall in 14 rounds.
- Freshman Jackson Saroney and senior Andres Barraza also had a strong fall seasons ranking second and third on the team with a 72.43 and 73.43 stroke averages, respectively, and also competed in all six events along with Creamean.
- Junior Zach Smith slots back into the lineup this weekend for the first time since competing in the opening event of the fall in Canada while sophomore Will Preston will make his season in the Sunshine State.
NEXT UP
The Nittany Lions have the next few weeks off before returning to action at the Johnnie-O at Sea Island hosted by Rutgers in Georgia on March 9-10.