Morehead, Ky. --The Morehead State Men's Golf team is preparing for the upcoming fall season. The Eagles will play in five tournaments in the fall, starting with the Joe Feaganes Invitational in Huntington, W.Va., on Sept. 9-10.
Morehead State returns just three players who saw action last season. Senior Nolan Piazza returns for his final campaign. He played in all 31 rounds last season, posting a 73.5 scoring average. He fired a career-low 66 in the opening round at the Joe Feaganes Invitational, leading to a third-place finish, his highest of the season. He ended with three top-10 finishes on the season.
"Nolan played a significant role on our near-conference championship team as a freshman," said head coach Matthew Martin. "He has been our best player the last two years. He was all-conference as a sophomore, and we are expecting big things from him here in his final year as an Eagle."
Another returner is junior Logan Liles. Liles has also seen action in all 31 tournaments in his career, averaging 73.5 strokes per round. He tied Piazza by also firing a first-round career-low 66 at the Joe Feaganes Invitational.
"Logan is the only member of the team who has played every single event that he has been eligible for, which is very difficult to do as an incoming freshman whether dealing with injury or dealing with things outside of golf as a college student," said Martin. "His consistency his first two years has been impressive, but we're also looking for him to make a jump. He has the game to contend for tournaments."
Liles posted two top-10 finishes, the highest being a tie for third at the Austin Peay Intercollegiate, and he posted a pair of 70's (-4).
Junior Logan McCormick returns for another season after playing 28 rounds last season, posting a 75.9 scoring average. His low round was a 67 in round two of the Joe Feaganes Invitational.
"McCormick is leading qualifying here in the early going, shooting very low scores. He worked hard toward the end of the summer to be ready, and that is showing in his play. I'm excited to see how he continues to progress," said Martin.
Redshirt sophomore Colton Wilson returns as well.
"Colton doesn't have the experience that the other returners have," said Martin. "But I expect him to be in the mix too."
Of the newcomers, only sophomore Remy Stalcup has prior collegiate experience. He played last year at Saginaw Valley State (Mich.), earning an All-Conference Honorable Mention his freshman season. He posted two top-10 finishes and seven top-20 efforts.
"Remy is a very good addition through the transfer portal," said Martin. "He is very level-headed and gets right down to business, and we are going to be counting on him to perform. He absolutely has the game to play at this level, and I'm excited to throw him in the mix."
Of the incoming freshmen, Martin said the early returns have been promising.
"This is the largest freshman class I've had since my first year here. We've had three rounds, and they have all shown what they are capable of," he said. "It's going to be a matter of who is going to be more consistent, who can handle their bad days, and who can adjust to everything that comes with college golf and being a student-athlete.
"I'm very excited they are all here," said Martin. "It's promising and exciting for the future, but they are expecting to play right now. I am going to have to figure out which of these guys are going to get their chance sooner rather than later."
After the tournament in Huntington, the Eagles will travel to Jackson, Tenn., to play in the Grover Page Classic, hosted by UT Martin. Then it's off to Lexington to play in the Cullen Brown Invitational hosted by Kentucky.
Morehead State also travels to Kennesaw, Ga., and then to Cincinnati to compete in the Xavier Invitational before shutting down for the winter break.
