APSU Sports Information
Clarksville, TN – In the heat of the summer, both active members of the APSU men’s golf program and their professional predecessors have been making the Governor name known at links and courses across the globe.
Erik Barnes
Stateside, Erik Barnes is coming ever closer to realizing his goal of attaining a PGA Tour card. After back-to-back top-10 finishes at the LECOM Health Challenge (t-eighth, July 8th) and the Utah Championship (t-fourth, July 15th), Barnes banked more than $45,000 to bring his season tally up to $111,009—35th on the Web.com Tour money list, with the top-25 earning their PGA Tour card. Earlier this season, Barnes tied for second at the Club Colombia Championship in Bogota—his second career runner-up honor.
The Kalamazoo, Michigan native is among the longest drivers on tour, ranking 15th in driving distance (317.3 yards per drive) with a long of 370 yards. He’s also been good on the green, averaging 29.23 putts per round and converting 33.54 percent of his chances at birdie or better (19th on tour).
Grant Leaver
After dominating the Swing Thought Tour last season, Grant Leaver has parlayed that success into 17 starts on the Web.com Tour this season, making seven cuts. He posted top-20 finishes twice early in the season, tying for 20th at the Club Colombia Championship (February 11th) and earning a career-best tie for 16th at the Chitimacha Louisiana Open (March 25th).
Leaver’s season-long 388-yard drive ranks 26th on tour, while in earning 17 saves in 28 bunker appearances, Leaver’s 60.71 sand-save percentage ranks seventh on the Web.com Tour.
Marco Iten
Across the pond, Marco Iten has ascended to 594th in the world as of the latest Official World Golf Rankings based on some globe-trotting across Europe. After two season-opening events in the Nordic Golf Leauge—including a 15th-place finish at the PGA Catalunya Resort Championship—Iten has settled into the Challenge Tour and become a weekly contender around the top-10, including a tie for 10th at the D+D REAL Czech Challenge and a tie for 11th at the SSE Scottish Hydro Challenge.
Through 10 Challenge Tour events, Iten ranks 86th with 12,472 points. The top-45 enjoy the perks of occasional qualification for European Tour events, based on availability, with the top-15 guaranteed qualifiers for European Tour membership the following season.
Alex Vegh & Michael Busse
Among current Govs, Alex Vegh recently finished 12th in the Ohio Amateur after firing a 291 (71-74-74-72). Michael Busse has been busy as well, tying for fourth at the 2018 Michigan Publinx Medal Play Championship in May and finishing third at the 50th Annual Frank Syron Memorial in July; he also participated in a US Amateur qualifier this week at Walnut Creek Country Club, finishing 15th in the 64-man field.
Garrett Whitfield & Austin Lancaster
Both Garrett Whitfield and Austin Lancaster made the playoff for the final spot of the 16-man Tennessee Match Play Championship, but were up-ended for the spot by Steve Golliher; both will likely put in an attempt at qualifying for the State Amateur, August 7th-10th, at Spring Creek Ranch in Collierville.
