WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Purdue men's golf team resumes its season for the first time since winning the Puerto Rico Classic last month, when it heads to South Carolina for the Hootie at Bulls Bay.
Purdue looks to keep its momentum going this weekend, returning to the course for just the second this Spring and after winning the loaded Puerto Rico Classic. The Boilermakers are looking for their third win of the season against a field that features 10 teams ranked in the top-100, including five in the top 55.
The Boilermakers figure to be in the running, coming into the tournament as the second highest-ranked team via the Clippd national rankings. A victory would give Purdue its third victory of the season for the first time since the 2015-16 campaign.
Action begins Sunday and will run through Tuesday, with the 12 teams playing 18 holes each day.
THE FIELD (Clippd rankings as of March 19)
18 South Carolina
39 Purdue
48 New Mexico
53 North Carolina State
55 College of Charleston
74 Kent State
77 Elon
79 Coastal Carolina
80 Iowa
97 East Tennessee State
108 Missouri
193 Virginia Tech
TEAM NOTES
PURDUE LINEUP
PREVIOUSLY AT THE HOOTIE AT BULLS BAY
Earning the tournament name as former Hootie and the Blowfish lead-singer, Darius Rucker, helps put on this tournament, the singer is a founding member of the Bulls Bay Golf Club and remains his favorite course to play. Since its inception, Rucker put on concerts for the teams, but since CoVid, that has now been replaced by a rodeo. The winning team receives a custom-made guitar from Rucker.
This marks Purdue's seventh appearance in the Hootie at Bulls Bay, having finished T-7th, 11th, 11th, 12th, 4th and 3rd in its previous six appearances. Former All-American Herman Sekne finished third in the 2023 event to earn his sixth Big Ten Golfer of the Week honor at the time.
THE COURSE
A private enclave set against the Atlantic Ocean and its tidal salt marshes, Bulls Bay personifies the vision of its owner: Joe Rice, and the imagination of its artistic designer, the late Mike Strantz. An accomplished professional artist as well as golf architect, Strantz transformed a once flat stretch of Lowcountry coastline into a landscape reminiscent of the great links courses of Scotland and Ireland.
Roughly two million cubic yards of earth were moved to reshape the site. And while other courses, especially modern courses, have required as much earth moving, few, if any, architects have transformed a site with such dramatic results.
WEATHER FORECAST
Sunday: Sunny, 72 degrees, light winds.
Monday: Sunny, 71 degrees, light winds.
Tuesday: Sunny, 74 degrees, light winds.
LIVE SCORING
Will be available on clippd.com.
Purdue looks to keep its momentum going this weekend, returning to the course for just the second this Spring and after winning the loaded Puerto Rico Classic. The Boilermakers are looking for their third win of the season against a field that features 10 teams ranked in the top-100, including five in the top 55.
The Boilermakers figure to be in the running, coming into the tournament as the second highest-ranked team via the Clippd national rankings. A victory would give Purdue its third victory of the season for the first time since the 2015-16 campaign.
Action begins Sunday and will run through Tuesday, with the 12 teams playing 18 holes each day.
THE FIELD (Clippd rankings as of March 19)
18 South Carolina
39 Purdue
48 New Mexico
53 North Carolina State
55 College of Charleston
74 Kent State
77 Elon
79 Coastal Carolina
80 Iowa
97 East Tennessee State
108 Missouri
193 Virginia Tech
TEAM NOTES
- Purdue has finished in the top four in four of its seven events this season. However, in the other three events, it has finished eighth or lower.
- The Boilermakers own a 286.14 average in 21 team rounds, whiche currently ranks as the lowest 18-hole average in Purdue history.
- Entering the Puerto Rico Classic, Purdue owned just one individual top-five tournament finishes this season. The Boilermakers recorded medalist and runner-up medalist honors in Puerto Rico.
- Seven of Purdue's 21 team rounds this season have been under par.
- Purdue has yet to shoot over 300 in a round this season.
PURDUE LINEUP
- Nels Surtani – Senior; Indianapolis, Indiana
- 2024 Second-Team All-Big Ten selection.
- Has a 71.90 stroke average this season with five top-25 finishes.
- Owns a 72.86 career stroke average (4th in school history).
- Has 10 rounds this season of par or better, good for second on the team.
- Sam Easterbrook – Sophomore; Tomworth, England
- Has had an up-and-down season (T-6, T-73, T-5, T-25, T-17; T-17; 1)
- Named Big Ten Golfer of the Week after winning the elite Puerto Rico Classic.
- Has five top-6 finishes in last nine regular-season events dating to last year.
- Posted the fourth-best freshman scoring average in school history last season (73.36).
- Twenty-five of his 54 career rounds have been even- or under-par.
- Supapon Amornchaichan – Freshman; Bangkok, Thailand
- Top career placing came at the Fighting Irish Classic (T-12; +1).
- Played well in season opener, posting T-15 finish at 1-under par 215; played final two rounds in 2-under par.
- Finished in the top 50 in five of seven events so far this year.
- Has had a team-counting round in a team-best 19 of 21 rounds this season.
- A highly-regarded recruit, Amornchaichan was an AJGA Honorable Mention All-America honoree.
- Won four titles during the 2022-23 season, including a pair of AJGA events.
- Was fourth at the Western Junior Championship in 2023.
- Jenson Forrester – Sophomore; Wolverhampton, England
- Finished in the top 10 at the Fighting Irish Classic (T-7), his second top-10 showing in his last four events (3rd at Purdue Fall Individual).
- Has three top-30 showings in his last five events.
- Was a regular a year ago at East Tennessee State, averaging 72.53 strokes per round and a pair of top-20 finishes.
- Finished T-15 at the SoCon Men's Golf Championship and T-72 at the NCAA Championships.
- Kent Hsiao – Senior; Taipei, Taiwan
- Placed second at the Puerto Rico Classic, shooting a 14-under par 202, finishing just one shot off medalist honors.
- Finished T-9th at the season-opening Island Resort Intercollegiate.
- Missed the Inverness Intercollegiate to compete in the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship (finished T-42).
- Has missed a pair of tournaments this season.
- Owns a 72.98 career stroke average, good for sixth in school history.
- Held the 36-hole lead at last year's NCAA Regional appearance at the Kampen-Cosler Course.
PREVIOUSLY AT THE HOOTIE AT BULLS BAY
Earning the tournament name as former Hootie and the Blowfish lead-singer, Darius Rucker, helps put on this tournament, the singer is a founding member of the Bulls Bay Golf Club and remains his favorite course to play. Since its inception, Rucker put on concerts for the teams, but since CoVid, that has now been replaced by a rodeo. The winning team receives a custom-made guitar from Rucker.
This marks Purdue's seventh appearance in the Hootie at Bulls Bay, having finished T-7th, 11th, 11th, 12th, 4th and 3rd in its previous six appearances. Former All-American Herman Sekne finished third in the 2023 event to earn his sixth Big Ten Golfer of the Week honor at the time.
THE COURSE
A private enclave set against the Atlantic Ocean and its tidal salt marshes, Bulls Bay personifies the vision of its owner: Joe Rice, and the imagination of its artistic designer, the late Mike Strantz. An accomplished professional artist as well as golf architect, Strantz transformed a once flat stretch of Lowcountry coastline into a landscape reminiscent of the great links courses of Scotland and Ireland.
Roughly two million cubic yards of earth were moved to reshape the site. And while other courses, especially modern courses, have required as much earth moving, few, if any, architects have transformed a site with such dramatic results.
WEATHER FORECAST
Sunday: Sunny, 72 degrees, light winds.
Monday: Sunny, 71 degrees, light winds.
Tuesday: Sunny, 74 degrees, light winds.
LIVE SCORING
Will be available on clippd.com.