Oct. 18, 2004

By: Patrick Clark -

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - (Monday, October 18, 2004) The Southeast Missouri State golf team will wrap up their fall season at the Rivercut Golf Course in Springfield, Mo. at the SMS Golf Fall Invitational starting today with two rounds of play and ending tomorrow with the one final round. The event hosted by Southwest Missouri State will include 13 teams. Southeast joins Eastern Illinois, Murray State and Tennessee-Martin as the Ohio Valley Conference teams in attendance.

"Rivercut is a course we should play really well on depending on the weather conditions," said assistant coach Kent Phillips. "The golfers that we are sending to compete have all played on that course and should benefit from that experience."

Seniors Matt Hillis, Brandon Couch, Brian Sheehan will team with sophomores Zack Decker and Mark Schmitz to try to capture their first fall tournament victory. The team has had three top-three finishes this season, including a second-place finish at their own Harris Fall Classic.

Hillis is the hottest golfer for the Indians. He's had three top-ten finishes this season and at one point was ranked 56th the in the Golfstat Cup rankings. Decker and Schmitz each have one top-ten finish apiece.

The competition that Southeast will face will be tough however. Host Southwest Missouri State should be among the favorites on their home course.

But they will be challenged by a number of teams for the team and individual titles. Southern Illinois has competed well this season. They won the John Dallio Memorial Invitational three weeks ago and are led by Kyle Hosick. Hosick will be the top-ranked golfer at the SMS Golf Fall Invitational. He's ranked 95th in the Golfstat rankings. He's coming off a first place finish at the MSU Invitational. OVC opponent Murray State is always considered a strong team and they are coming off a big win at their own tournament. Western Illinois is also playing strong; they won the D.A. Weibring Intercollegiate Invitational finishing ahead of many of the teams at the SMS Invite.

"This invitational provides us a great opportunity for us to finish the fall season on a positive note," said Phillips.