TOLEDO, Ohio – The Toledo men's golf team will receive a big test to open its 2023-24 season this weekend when it travels to Loudon, Tenn. to compete in the University of Tennessee's Visit Knoxville Collegiate.  The Rockets have posted a Top 3 finish in three of the last four Mid-American Conference Championships and will be looking to continue this run of success in their upcoming campaign.
 
This weekend's tournament will be held on Friday-Sunday, Sept. 8-10 at the par-70, 7,280-yard Tennessee National Golf Club. The Rockets' tee times on Friday will begin at 8:00 a.m. with Saturday's tee times starting at 11:40 a.m. Sunday's tee times will be based on the team standings following the second round.
 
The Field
The Rockets will be competing against a 14-team field that includes five programs that were ranked in the Top 40 of last year's final Golfweek rankings. The host Volunteers lead the way with their No. 14 ranking and are followed by No. 18 Mississippi State, No. 24 Ole Miss, No. 33 East Tennessee State and No. 40 North Florida. Joining Toledo in the tournament are Cincinnati, Clemson, Wisconsin, Charlotte, South Florida, Nebraska, Virginia Tech, and UConn.

This Week's Lineup
The Rockets' lineup will consist of senior Barend Botha at No. 1, senior Jamie Tofte Nielsen at No. 2, senior Palmer Yenrick at No. 3, sophomore Bence Kotel at No. 4 and sophomore Mads Jensen at No. 5.  Junior CJ van Wyk will be competing as an individual.

Botha set a school record last year with a 70.5 stroke average en route to being named MAC Men's Golfer of the Year and PING All-Midwest Region Team honors. Yenrick registered an eighth-place finish at last year's MAC Championship, while Nielsen tied for first place at the 2022 MAC Championships. Kotel enters his second season as a Rocket after posting a 74.1 stroke average as a freshman. Jensen is competing in his first tournament as a Rocket after earning NJCAA Division I PING All-South Central District honors at Ranger College with a 73.5 stroke average.

Up Next
Toledo will return to the links on Monday-Tuesday, Sept. 18-19 with a trip to Richmond, Va. for the VCU Shootout.

Visit Knoxville Collegiate

• Dates: Sept. 8-10, 2023
• Course: Tennessee National Golf Club (Loudon, Tenn.) – Par-70, 7,280 yards
• Tournament Field: Cincinnati, Charlotte, Clemson, UConn, ETSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Nebraska, North Florida, South Florida, Tennessee, TOLEDO, Virginia Tech, Wisconsin..
• Live scoring: Golfstat.com