RUSTON – The Louisiana Tech Golf team gets its 2024-25 season underway as the Bulldogs host the Argent Financial Classic.  The event is free and open to the public.
 
EVENT INFORMATION
Dates: Sunday – Tuesday, Sept. 8-10
Location: Squire Creek Country Club (Choudrant, La.)
Stats: LATechSports.com/GolfStats
Stroke Play: 3 rounds/54 holes (18 holes each day)
               Round 1 (Sunday): 7:30 a.m. start | Hole 10
               Round 2 (Monday): 7:30 a.m. start | Hole 10
               Round 3 (Tuesday): 8 a.m. start | Holes 1 and 10
Yardage: 7,105 yards (Par 72)
Participants: 18 teams/99 individuals
 
ABOUT ARGENT FINANCIAL CLASSIC
This year's event will mark the 25th time LA Tech has hosted a tournament on its home course, Squire Creek Country Club.  Argent Financial Group, a wealth management firm with headquarters in Ruston, returns as the title sponsor for a second straight season.
 
ABOUT LOUISIANA TECH
LA Tech will feature two teams in the season opener.  Team A will consist of reigning CUSA Freshman of the Year Niilo Maki-Petaja, sophomore Jake Plumb, senior Grant Smith, and a pair of freshmen in Freddie Surgey and Morton Bailey.  Team B will be junior college transfer Oskari Schuvalow, juniors Joel Thomas Stephens and Riley Hnatyshyn, sophomore Gray Kingrea, and freshman Isaac Adams.
 
Maki-Petaja headlines the team, looking to build upon a freshman campaign where he put together a team-best 72.25 stroke average, the fourth best in program history.  He recorded four top-five finishes and earned an at-large bid as an individual to participate in the NCAA Regionals.
 
Fellow sophomore Plumb looks to take the next step in his collegiate career after participating in seven events in his first year as a Bulldog.  He tied for 33rd in his LA Tech debut at last year's Argent Financial Classic.
 
Smith will be competing in his fourth home event while Surgey and Bailey, a pair of highly touted players from England, will make their Bulldog debut as will Schuvalow, who finished ranked No. 18 in the country as an individual in junior college, and Adams who hails from Longview, Texas.
 
Stephens and Hnatyshyn will make their third appearance at their home event while Kingrea will be playing in the AFC for the first time despite seeing action in five events as a freshman last season.
 
THE FIELD
Louisiana Tech (two teams)
Abilene Christian
Houston
Jacksonville State
Lamar
Little Rock
LSU (individuals only)
Middle Tennessee
Nicholls
North Texas
Rice
South Alabama
Southern Miss
Troy
UL-Lafayette
UAB
ULM
WKU
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
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