Some of the top golf programs in the country will converge on Statesboro this week as the 45th annual Schenkel Invitational tees off Friday morning at Forest Heights Country Club.

The Georgia Southern Eagles have four team titles and would like to keep the trophy in Statesboro this year. The Eagles have played a tough schedule coming in and are coming off an 8th place finish at the Johnnie-O at Sea Island which wrapped up Tuesday.

“I feel like we come into this week battle tested,” said Eagle head coach Carter Collins. “Our guys have been really solid. This is the best week of the year for us and is one of the reasons some of these guys came to Georgia Southern to play golf. It is one of the reasons I have had so much fun being here because the community really gets behind this thing. To be able to do this against the competition level we will see this week makes it even more special.”

The Eagle golfers are anxious to get things underway as well and want to be able to continue the tradition of excellence they have seen from the teams of the past.

“There is definitely nothing like this tournament this week,” said Eagle senior Brantley Baker. “It is just so cool to have the whole community behind us. Home field advantage always helps. It looks great out here and all the greens are in good shape. We are excited about starting Friday.”

“It’s always a special week out here as the Schenkel is one of the best college tournaments in the country,” said Eagle senior Hogan Ingram. “These greens can get tricky but the good thing is we know it better than anybody and that gives us a huge advantage. This team is phenomenal and I feel like we can easily win it, we just have to play solid, consistent golf and we expect to be on top of that leaderboard.”

The Schenkel tees off Friday morning at Forest Heights Country Club and is free and open to the public. The Eagles match up with Wisconsin and Notre Dame, with the first groups teeing off at 9:45 a.m.