UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. – The Penn State men's golf team heads to postseason play at the 2021 Big Ten Men's Golf Championships this weekend, Friday-Sunday, April 29-May 2 at Crooked Stick Golf Club in Carmel, Indiana. With a round of play planned for each of the three days, the 14 Big Ten teams will tee off on holes No. 1 and No. 10 beginning at 9 a.m. Friday. Tee times will be available Thursday on the 2021 Big Ten Men's Golf Championships Central website, on Golfstat.com and goPSUsports.com.
The field includes No. 11 Illinois, No. 44 Indiana, No. 38 Iowa, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State, Penn State, Purdue, Rutgers and Wisconsin. Eleven of the league's teams participated in the Kepler Intercollegiate last weekend.
"Anytime you are headed to play a major championship venue like Crooked Stick, you can't wait to get a look at it," said Penn State men's golf head coach Greg Nye. "This will be our first ever competition here which creates a challenge versus those teams that have experienced Crooked Stick. In Thursday's practice round we will need to look at how each hole plays in different conditions, as well as how the varied hole locations impact our strategy."
Penn State's two highest finishes in Big Ten Championships have occurred in the state of Indiana. The Nittany Lions tied for third place in 2015 at Victoria National Golf Club in Newburgh, Indiana, and took third at Purdue's Kampen Course in West Lafayette, Indiana, in 2000.
The Big Ten Men's Golf Championships were held in the state of Indiana for six consecutive years, from 2011-2016. However, this is the first time the event will be contested at the par-72, 7,235-yard course designed by Pete and Alice Dye in 1964. Located north of Indianapolis, Crooked Stick Golf Club has played host to numerous national events, including the 1991 PGA Championship, and most recently, the 118th Western Amateur championship in 2020.
Graduate students Alec Bard (New Hartford, New York) and Ryan Davis (Berkeley Heights, New Jersey), seniors James McHugh (Rye, New York) and Lou Olsakovsky (Upper St. Clair, Pennsylvania), and sophomores Jimmy Meyers (Wexford, Pennsylvania) and Patrick Sheehan (Doylestown, Pennsylvania) will represent Penn State this weekend.
Outstanding efforts over the last two weekends of competition produced a tournament title at the Rutherford Intercollegiate and a second-place finish at the Kepler Intercollegiate. Contributions throughout the lineup helped the Nittany Lions improve their standings in the final round in both events. Davis and Bard have the most experience at the Big Ten Men's Golf Championships with four and three appearances, respectively. The 2020 Big Ten Championships were not held after spring events were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Live stats and results from the 2021 Big Ten Men's Golf Championships will be available at the conference's 2021 Men's Golf Championships Central website and on GolfStat. A recap of each day's action and results will be available on GoPSUsports.com.