Augusta, Ga.- The Augusta University men's golf team will tee it up for the first time this fall as part of the Bearcat Invitational in Cincinnati, Oh. starting Monday, Sept. 16. The two-day, 17-team field includes BYU, Kentucky, Louisville, Memphis and Southern Miss.

This year's Jaguar squad features several returning members of the Southland Conference Championship team that also competed in the DI NCAA Stanford region championship.

"I've been here a couple of seasons now and I think our goal every year has been to continue to improve and continue to get better," said Steven Paine, men's golf coach. "We've got three transfers that have come in and have all made the line-up for our first event so we'll see how they do. We're excited to get going and see what we got with so many new faces." 

Junior Stefan Jacobs will anchor the team and is the former conference freshman of the year. Jacobs finished 36th in the NCAA regional this past season and registered a tie for fourth place finish in the Battle of Briar's Creek.

Joining Jacobs will be Dean Wilken, Behn Heynes and Josh Koekemoer, who saw considerable time in the starting line-up for the Jaguars this past season.
Heynes, a junior, was a first team All-Southland Conference selection in 2023 and carded an eighth-place finish in the Pinetree Intercollegiate event in Kennesaw, Ga. He also posted a 72.9 stroke average for the year.

Wilken showed a big improvement from his freshman year to his sophomore year and was on-average, two shots better per round. He recorded a couple of top 30 finishes last season.

Transferring into the program that could make immediate impacts are James Blanchard II, Pieter Rossouw Jr. and Ryan Davidson. 

Other transfers will also play a big role in the success of the team.

"The one good thing about the (transfer) portal is that these guys have experience coming in. So it's not like playing true freshmen. I think we should pick up where we left off last year and hopefully continue to improve," Paine added.

Paine enters his third year in charge of the golf program and is coming off back-to-back Southland Conference Championship titles. Paine will have a roster that along with the transfers, features four freshmen and has a loaded schedule ahead of them.

In the fall, Augusta University will not only play in Cincinnati, but also take part in the Windon Memorial in Chicago, Il., hosted by Northwestern, Notre Dame's Fighting Irish Classic, and the University of North Carolina's Williams Cup tournament. They will have a three-month break before teeing it up for the spring portion of the season.