EAST LANSING—Michigan State men’s golf travels to beautiful Panama City Beach, Florida, for the Watersound Invitational February 17-19.
MSU will have the privilege of competing at the Shark Tooth Golf Club, one of the nicest courses in the southeastern area of the United States. The host, Florida State University, will attempt to defend its home course in this 12-team field.
However, winning this event will be no easy feat, as six competing teams are ranked in the top 25, including No. 11 Vanderbilt, No. 12 UCLA, No. 14 Georgia Tech, No. 18 Mississippi State, No. 24 Alabama, and No. 25 Notre Dame.
The remainder of the participants, including Navy, Clemson, Kentucky, and North Carolina State, all have a path to victory as well.
Along the shores of Lake Powell, this 18-hole championship course plays a par 72 at 7,209 yards. Designed by the legendary Greg Norman in 2002, the course is nothing short of stunning. Each hole is rich, with mature oak and pine trees along the coastal dune lake.
However, the players cannot let the sights distract them, as this course will be unforgiving to those who approach it without caution. The course layout contains many wetland areas the players must hit over to keep their ball in legal play, leading to some tricky decisions for the golfers this week. The winner of this invitational will have to show great skill, strategy, and discipline on the course on all three days of competition.
Over the past couple of years, a few holes have stood out as the ones that give the golfers the most trouble during the three-day event.
Hole No. 7, a 485-yard par 4, proved the most difficult on the course. The average score from the field is an absurd 63 strokes more than the average for a par 4’s on the course, which comes in at 425.
Other notable holes that can be tricky are No. 17, a 570-yard par 5, and No. 5, a 225-yard par 3. If teams can limit the damage these holes are designed to inflict, it will put them in a prime position to win the event.
The Spartans want to push their spring campaign in the right direction with a top 3 finish at this year’s event. Last year’s season ended disappointingly, with tMSU finishing dead last in the Windon Memorial, 11th of 15 in the Fighting Irish Classic, and their final event of the year, the Quail Valley Collegiate Invitational, being canceled.
This year’s Watersound Invitational is an excellent opportunity for the Spartans to prove themselves as a threat to anyone they play in field competition, something they failed to do last year.
In 2024, the Vanderbilt Commodores won their second straight Watersound Title with a dominant 9-stroke lead. They enter this year’s competition as a heavy favorite, relying on great play from one of the best names in college golf, Gordon Sargent.
Sargent was the individual national champion in 2022 and has made the All-SEC team every year since. Sargent played in the 2023 Masters Tournament, the 2023/2024 U.S. Open, and the 2024 Open Championship, and he is looking to lead his troops to a three-peat at this year’s Watersound Invitational.
The Spartans will be paired with The University of Kentucky and Clemson University for a 9:10 a.m. shotgun start on Monday. The weather will change pace for the East Lansing natives, with forecasts looking to be sunshine and mid-60s for most of the invitational.
Fans of the participating schools can follow along at AmateurGolf.com to stay updated with the latest score updates, player profiles, and leaderboards from this year’s Watersound Invitational.
