Rhodes Fall Classic Live Scoring

The Emory University golf team opens the fall portion of its 2017-18 schedule this Sunday and Monday (Sept. 17-18) when it competes at the Rhodes College Fall Classic.  The 54-hole tournament will be played on the 7,125-yard par-72 Tunica National Golf Club (MS).  The competing teams are scheduled to play 36 holes on the first day of action before winding up with 18 on Monday.

Among the 16 programs that comprise this year's field, five are ranked in the Bushnell Golfweek Preseason Coaches Poll. In addition to the No. 7 Eagles, other ranked teams include No. 1 Texas-Tyler, No. 5 Huntingdon, No. 8 and host Rhodes College, and No. 25 Sewanee.

Head coach John Sjoberg starts his seventh year at the helm of the program with a roster that features 11 veterans from last year's team that tied for 12^th place at the NCAA D-III Championships. Among those back in the fold are sophomore Matt Organisak and junior Stefano Butti, both of whom earned PING Golf Second Team All-America acclaim last year.  Organisak, named the University Athletic Association's Player of the Year, placed second on the team with an average of 74.08 strokes over 23 rounds of play, good for fifth place on the school's seasonal ladder.  Butti closed out 2016-17 No. 1 on the squad with an average of 73.88 strokes over 18 rounds of play, good for fourth place on the school's seasonal ladder.  In addition, he shot a team-high six rounds of par or better.

Other key vets Sjoberg will rely upon include senior Keenan Hickton and junior Connor Yakubov. The most experienced player on the roster, Hickton has registered 63 rounds of play during his first three years in the program.  Last season, he averaged 76.49 strokes per round and ranked as the Eagles' No. 1 finisher in three tournaments en route to earning First Team All-UAA honors. Yakubov garnered a second-team berth on the all-conference team, ending the season with an average of 76.45 strokes over 20 rounds. His 67 on the final day of the Discover DeKalb Emory Spring Invitational was a career best and the top score by an Emory player during the campaign.  Senior Sean Murphy looks to be a consistent contributor in his second year in the program after averaging 74.73 strokes over 15 rounds that entailed six tournaments.

Two first-year players comprise the 13-member roster; freshmen Davis Hingtgen (Orlando, FL) and Eric Yiu (Shenzhen, Guandong, China ).

Competing for the Eagles at the Rhodes College Fall Collegiate Golf Classic will be:
Keenan Hickton
Connor Yakubov
Matt Organisak
Sean Murphy
Eric Yiu