COLUMBIA, Ky. - The Lindsey Wilson men's golf season gets underway on Monday at the UPIKE Fall Invitational at StoneCrest Golf Course in Prestonburg, Kentucky.
The Blue Raiders open the season ranked No. 1 in the NAIA Preseason Poll after capturing the program's first-ever NAIA National Championship last season. Lindsey Wilson also captured its second straight Mid-South Conference championship a year ago.
Consistency has been the key emphasis for the Blue Raiders, according to head coach
Chris Butler. "We feel as a team, if we can be consistent day in day out with our work, then by the end of the season we will be in a position to be successful, " Butler said.
The Blue Raiders will be replacing
Rio Saigal,
Johan Bredenkamp, and
Adam Hawthorn. Saigal was the MSC Men's Golfer of the Year last season and earned First Team All-Conference and NAIA First Team All-American honors a season ago. Bredenkamp earned First Team MSC honors and was a Second Team All-American. The Blue Raiders will lean on returners
Stanley White and
Toby White.
Stanley White was the MSC Freshman of the Year last season and he and Toby earned First Team All-Conference and Third Team NAIA All-American honors.
On the expectations for this season, Butler added, "We expect to be successful in the classroom and in the community. Our goal is to put ourselves in a position to be prepared to compete at the end of the year."
"Some good takeaways from last season is that we fully know what it takes, it's just about staying patient and going one step at a time, don't get caught up in instant results," said Butler. Trust the process and just try to get the most out of the day at hand."
Butler expects returner
James Gibb and newcomer
Philip Kittoff Jr. to make an impact for the Blue Raiders this season. "James is in his 3rd year here and has steadily improved year in year out, " Butler added. He's a top 1% player in distance across all levels of college golf, so when he's accurate, he's really tough to handle. I'm so proud of his journey to this point."
"Philip is a freshmen from Bulgaria who is a super consistent player with a great mindset for the game .I think he will be a top end freshmen in the NAIA.
The first round of the UPIKE Fall Invitational gets underway on Monday morning at StoneCrest Golf Course.
