URI Returns to National Golf Invitational
For the second straight year, the University of Rhode Island golf team is headed to the National Golf Invitational.
Introduced in 2023 and hosted by GolfWeek, the National Golf Invitational serves as the equivalent to the NIT of college basketball.
“It is always a thrill to get the official invitation from the great Lance Ringler. He is a legend in college golf for all of his work at GolfWeek and in running so many intercollegiate events. The NGI is a first class event and we are honored to be invited,” URI Head Coach Gregg Burke told GolfNewsRI.
The Rams finished fourth at the event last year.
“Rhode Island has moved itself into the top tier of mid-major golf programs. Coach Burke’s teams have gone 196-51-4 in the last two years and that is one of the best won-loss percentages in all of college golf. We are excited to have the Rams back at Ak-Chin Southern Dunes again this after a fourth place showing last year,” said GolfWeek’s Lance Ringler.
The tournament is set to take place from May 22-24 in Arizona.
URI at NGI
Along with URI, the field consists of four top-100 squads in Augusta, Grand Canyon, Missouri and North Alabama.
Other teams include Mercer, Nevada, Tennessee Tech, William & Mary and Wyoming.
“The field is strong with four Top-100 schools and another ranked above us, so we go in again as underdogs. But we love the golf course and played it very well a year ago. The temperatures will be over 100 each day so that will be an additional challenge,” said Burke.
Rhody is coming off a regular season where they won four times in the fall, then finished fourth at the A-10 Championship.
“We had a terrific fall season, winning four times and had flashes of brilliance amid some disappointing play in the spring season. We beat Iowa, Penn State, Michigan twice, and Ohio State as well as one-round better scores than TCU and Wake Forest so we know we have the firepower,” said Burke.
Rhode Island’s lineup at NGI will include Tyler Bruneau, senior captain Aidan O’Donovan, Josiah Tong, Tony Liu and Luke Stennett.
“We’ll be looking for Tyler, Aidan, and Josiah to continue their solid play from second semester. Tyler was our best golfer this spring. He has the right attitude and knows how to hit all the shots you need to score well. JT, who finished in the Top 10 in the NGI last year, is starting to break out into the player who can win multiple times, and Aidan has the chance to really write the most important chapter of his legacy at URI,” said Burke.
He continued, “Tony and Luke did not play consistently second semester and were out of the lineup at one point but they also showed that they can be very, very good.”
Stennett was recently named to the A-10 All-Conference team for the second time in his career.