Augusta Haskins exemptions up the ante at Golfweek/Stifel Spring Challenge
Walking off the airplane on the way to Augusta, Georgia, earlier this week, Phil Wildermuth, the head men’s golf coach at St. John’s University, reflected on the postseason. A St.
John’s player has scored a tee time in an NCAA regional each of the past three seasons, but Wildermuth is still itching to get a full team into that setting. Wildermuth wonders if this week at the Augusta Haskins Award Invitational might be a little bit like that team regional experience. It has that vibe so far anyway.
His team spent the commute to the airport scouting the teams and the players they were about to compete against. The excitement is flowing. St.
Johns played its way into the 16-team field at Forest Hills Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, this week by winning last spring’s Golfweek Stifel Spring Challenge. The 54-hole event is played at True Blue Golf Club on Pawley’s Island, South Carolina, each spring. “You feel like you earned it to be here, that’s how we feel,” Wildermuth said.
And that makes it special. St. John’s will tee it up against top-10-ranked teams like Oklahoma State, LSU and Illinois this week at Forest Hils, which are programs they normally wouldn’t see in the regular season.
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