Emory Golf Opens 2018-19 At D-III Preview

Emory Golf Opens 2018-19 At D-III Preview

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The Emory University golf team opens the fall portion of its 2018-19 schedule on Monday and Tuesday (Sept. 17-18) at the NCAA D-III Preview.  The 54-hole event will be played on the 7,190-yard, par-72 Keene Trace Golf Club in Nicholasville, Kentucky.  36 holes will be played on Monday followed by the final 18 on Tuesday.

A total of 17 of the 18 competing teams are ranked in the Top 25 in the Bushnell Golf Week D-III Preseason Poll.  The Eagles are slotted in the No. 2 position behind defending D-III national champion Methodist University.  Rounding out the top-five programs who will be at the Preview are No. 3 Huntingdon College, No. 4 Guilford and No. 5 Washington and Lee.

Head coach John Sjoberg starts his eighth year at the helm of the program with a roster that features 10 veterans from last year's team that recorded a seventh-place finish at the NCAA D-III Championships and that established a school season record in scoring average (295.2 spr).   Among those back in the fold is junior Matt Organisak who has captured back-to-back PING Golf Second Team All-America berths.  Organisak led the team with a 73.2 strokes average over 25 rounds a year ago, the second-best school seasonal mark. Tabbed as the University Athletic Association Player of the Year for the second straight season, he logged a team-leading 12 rounds of par or better and chalked up four top-five overall finishes.  Senior Connor Yakubov, looks for a big final campaign after landing 2017-18 Honorable Mention All-America accolades. The most experienced performer on this year's squad with 66 career rounds under his belt, he averaged 74.0 strokes over 25 rounds last season. Yakubov tied for seventh at the NCAA D-III Championships, carding a 72-hole score of 289 that established a program record for the individual best mark at nationals. Sophomore Eric Yiu cemented a spot in the lineup last season and averaged 75.8 strokes over 22 rounds.  He tied for second on the team with seven rounds of par or better and placed among the top-five overall finishers in two tourneys 

Other key vets Sjoberg will rely upon include senior Stefano Butti and junior Sam Galloway. The team's second-most experienced performer with 59 rounds during his career, Butti garnered First Team All-UAA distinction last year, winding up the campaign averaging 74.9 strokes in 22 rounds. In addition, he tied a school record for low round when he fired a 66 on the final day of action at the Discover DeKalb Emory Spring Invitational.  Galloway parlayed a strong fall effort last year in earning PING Golf All-South Region recognition.  He was named UAA Co-Golfer of the Week after helping Emory to a runner-up finish at the Royal Lakes/Oglethorpe Fall Invitational, tying for third place out of 102 entries with a four-under par 140 (73-67), tying the program's fourth-best score in history for a two-round tourney .

Three first-year players comprise the 13-member roster; freshmen Andrew DiPetrillo (Dover, MA), Logan Ryan (Fort Wayne, IN) and Max Schwarz (Paradise Valley, AZ).

Competing for the Eagles at the D-III Preview will be:
Matt Organisak
Connor Yakubov
Eric Yiu
Sam Galloway
Logan Ryan