Hokie ClubThe Virginia Tech men's golf team makes its yearly trek to the Furman Intercollegiate this weekend. The three-day event, an annual stop on Tech's spring schedule, will be played March 23-25 at the par 72, 6,994-yard Furman University Golf Course in Greenville, South Carolina.
This year's event boasts a field of 21 teams. No. 25 North Florida highlights the field, which includes a number of teams from the southern and eastern portions of the country.
The Hokies have won the Furman Intercollegiate five times since 2000 and four Tech players have won individual titles, most recently Trevor Cone in 2014. Among the notables who have won individual titles at Furman as Curtis Strange, Jay Haas, Mark Calcavecchia, Brad Faxon, David Duval, Matt Kuchar and Ben Martin.
This weekend, Mark Lawrence Jr., will play in the first position for the Hokies. The junior from Richmond, Virginia, has four top 20 finishes for Tech this year, highlighted by a fifth place finish at the Gopher Invitational to open the year and a seventh place finish at the General Hackler Championship in Tech's last event.
Ian Hildebrand will play second for Tech. The senior co-captain from Purcellville, Virginia, has been a regular in Tech's line-up this spring and had his best-ever finish for the Hokies earlier this month at the Hackler, placing 26th individually.
Blake Fiest returns to the Hokie line-up in the third spot. The junior from Huntersville, North Carolina, is second on the team in scoring average and Crunch Time scoring average. He had his best career finish in the final event of the fall schedule, placing sixth at the UNCG Grandover Collegiate. He did not compete in the Hackler due to illness.
Connor Burgess is playing fourth for Tech. The freshman from Lynchburg, Virginia, is third among Tech players in scoring average and Crunch Time scoring average. His season highlight is a second place finish at the Janney Invitational in the fall, in his second collegiate event.
Slade Pickering will play in the fifth position for Tech this weekend. The freshman from North West, South Africa, has appeared in six events for the Hokies this season. He finished 33rd at the Tar Heel Intercollegiate in the fall.
Dan Woodbury, a senior from Upton, Massachusetts, Tom Crow, a sophomore from Virginia Beach, Virginia and Joey Jordan, a junior from Richmond, Virginia, will compete in the Furman Intercollegiate as individuals. Jordan will be making his collegiate debut at Furman, after joining the team this semester as a walk-on.
The Hokies will tee off in the first round on Friday afternoon, beginning at 12:40 p.m. from the first tee. Tech will be grouped with Akron and Wichita State. The second round will be played with tee times on Saturday and the final round will be a shotgun start on Sunday morning. Live scoring is available on Hokiesports.com, via a link from Golfstat.com.