EAST LANSING— Michigan State men’s golf is heading to Sea Island, Georgia, to compete in the Johnnie-O at Sea Island from March 18-19.
An annual event hosted by Rutgers University, the Johnnie-O at Sea Island takes place in St. Simons Island, Georgia. This event is known for being filled with challenging golf and beautiful seaside views, a perfect combination for the collegiate golf fan.
This event is one of the more difficult ones on the Spartans’ schedule every year, as the course also hosts the RSM Classic for the PGA tour every November. The field will be taking on the Plantation Course, a par 72 that spans 6,999 yards. While the course will not be at PGA standards until Autumn, the rough will still be thick and unforgiving, paired with some of the fastest greens these players will play in their collegiate careers.
A shorter course designed by amateur golfer Walter Travis in 1928, the layout tests the players’ accuracy over power. It is set up to punish over-aggressive approaches, with water and bunker hazards littered throughout every hole.
Last year, the field struggled all three days of the event, with the average scores being well over par for each round. Holes No. 10, a short par 4, and No. 14, a straight-forward par 5, proved the easiest, with the average scores being below par on all three days.
The remaining holes on the Plantation Course got the best of all the teams in the field, with holes No. 5, a long par 4, and No. 13, a tricky par 4, historically being the toughest. If a team could average par or better on these holes, it would give them a considerable advantage over the two-day event.
The Spartans have momentum from the Colleton River Collegiate earlier this month when they came in first in a challenging field of teams. Beating out second-place Kansas State by an impressive 11 strokes, the Spartans were the only team in the entire three-day event to finish a round below par, a statement and an impressive victory.
The Spartans were led by freshman Juan Velasquez, who topped the individual scoring leaderboard with an impressive +2 after two rounds. Velasquez’s dominant performance pushed Michigan State to claim their first victory of the year.
Michigan State has a realistic chance of going back-to-back early into this Spring season, with this field being one of the easiest of the year for the Spartans. No team playing this year is ranked very high, with Kansas at No. 50, Marquette at No. 51, Florida Gulf Coast at No. 52, and Michigan State at No. 56 being the favored teams to come out on top.
Other unranked teams looking to make a statement include the Princeton Tigers, the Augusta Jaguars, and the hosts, the Rutger Scarlett Knights. A confident victory from any of these programs should push them closer to a top 50 spot in the nation.
This 54-hole event will begin with a shotgun start at 8 a.m. on Monday. It will be an all-day event featuring 36 holes of golf. The final round will be played on Tuesday when the 2025 Johnnie-O at Sea Island champions will be crowned.
