Moon Township, Pa. – The
Robert Morris University men's golf team is set for its final tune-up before the Horizon League Championships, as the Colonials will take part in the Wright State Invitational on April 18-19. Held on the par-71, 6,754-yard course at Heatherwoode Golf Club in Springboro, Ohio, the Wright State Invitational will feature 36 holes on Sunday before the final 18 on Monday.
TOURNAMENT #4
Wright State Invitational, hosted by Wright State University
April 18-19, 2021 // Springboro, Ohio – Heatherwoode Golf Club (Par 71, 6,754 yards)
Live Stats: GolfStat
History at Wright State Invitational
Appearances: 5 | Best Finish: 6th (2007-08) | Best Score: 914, +50 (2007-08)
Last Appearance: April 14-15, 2019 – Springboro, Ohio (Heatherwoode G.C.) – 11th of 12 teams (754, +54)
RMU is making its sixth appearance at Wright State's home tournament, previously appearing in the 2003, 2006, 2008, and 2019 spring editions as well as the 1999 fall competition. The Colonials finished 11th out of 12 teams in their last appearance at the invitational, carding a 36-hole score of 754 (+54). RMU would bounce back a week later with a wire-to-wire victory at the Northeast Conference Championships, its fourth in school history.
Max Palmer registered a 144 (+4) in the Colonials' last Wright State Invitational trek, finishing in a tie for seventh out of 79 players. He's one of three RMU players to place inside the top 10 at the event, joining Jon Fiedler (t-8th, 2005-06) and Trent Karlik (t-10th, 1999-00). Fiedler fired a 54-hole total of 229 (+13), while Karlik scored a 150 (+10) over 36 holes.
Scouting The Field
The Wright State Invitational features a 17-team field hailing from seven different conferences (Big East, Conference USA, Horizon League, Mid-American Conference, Missouri Valley Conference, Northeast Conference, Ohio Valley Conference). The Horizon League has nine of its 10 teams in the field (Cleveland State, Detroit Mercy, Green Bay, IUPUI, Northern Kentucky, Purdue Fort Wayne, Robert Morris, Wright State, Youngstown State), with Oakland being the lone exclusion. That 10-team group is joined by Butler, Eastern Illinois, Loyola Chicago, Marshall, Morehead State, Ohio, Saint Francis U, and Valparaiso.
Last Time Out
RMU finished 13th at the Mountaineer Invitational on April 12-13, posting a 54-hole score of 947 (+83).
Kyle Grube was a bright spot for the Colonials, placing in a tie for eighth in the 81-player field after carding a 221 (+5) over three rounds. Grube registered a pair of two-over 74s in the 36-hole first day before shooting a season-low 73 (+1) in the third round, netting his first top-10 finish of the season.
Run It Back
Graduate student
Kyle Grube put together the best performance of his fifth season at the Mountaineer Invitational, collecting his first top-10 finish of the campaign with an eighth after posting a 54-hole total of 221 (+5). The top-10 effort was the fifth of his career and helped him trim his 2020-21 stroke average from 79.3 to 76.9.
Taking advantage of the NCAA waiver granting an extra season of eligibility to 2020 spring student-athletes, Grube is looking to tie a bow on a stellar career. The Indiana, Pa. native currently ranks fourth all-time at RMU in rounds par and under (10) and fifth in stroke average (75.84). The abrupt ending of 2019-20 brought a potentially historic season for Grube to a halt, as his 73.5 stroke average is the second lowest in single-season program history. Grube, a two-time Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) All-America Scholar and 2019 All-Northeast Conference (NEC) First Team selection, also owns the second spot in single-season rounds par and under (7, 2018-19) and is one of 21 Colonials to play at least 60 collegiate rounds.
Man From The Moon
Redshirt sophomore
Chris Sabol netted a pair of top-10 finishes to open the spring slate, including his first medalist honor at the Fairleigh Dickinson Invitational on April 3. Sabol was named
Nike/Horizon League Athlete of the Week for that performance, and currently sits third on the team in stroke average at 77.7.
Sabol's victory marks the fourth straight season that a RMU player has won a tournament, as he joins teammate
Chase Miller (2018-19),
Max Palmer (2019-20), and
David Szymanski (2017-18). The Moon Area High School product competed in seven rounds last season after transferring in from Methodist (N.C.) University, finishing fifth on the team in stroke average at 78.1.
Miller Time
It's hard to make a bigger immediate impact than what
Chase Miller did as a freshman in 2018-19, as he captured medalist honors in his debut tournament at the Northern Kentucky Fall Collegiate Classic. In the middle of his third collegiate season, Miller has entrenched himself as one of the Colonials' most reliable golfers with a 76.04 stroke average over 46 career rounds – good for sixth all-time at RMU. His 75.9 stroke average currently leads the team, and he has collected a top-five and two top-10 finishes in 2020-21.
Miller became the first sophomore in program history to earn GCAA All-America Scholar accolades in 2019-20, finishing his second season with a 75.1 stroke average over 14 rounds. The Bernville, Pa. native posted six rounds par and under in 2018-19 – tied for third most in single-season school history – and opened his collegiate career with a three-under 210 at NKU, which is the program record for a 54-hole score by strokes.
The Leader
RMU head coach
Jerry Stone is in his 19th full season and 20th year overall leading the program in 2020-21. He has been the coach of the men's program since the spring of 2002, helping lead the Colonials to a pair of NEC championships and subsequent NCAA Regional berths in 2015 and 2019, as well as eight top-three finishes at the conference tournament. RMU has won 23 events with Stone in charge and currently hold a streak of 11 straight seasons with at least one tournament win.
Stone has captured five NEC Coach of the Year awards, winning four with the men's team in 2003, 2010, 2015, and 2019, as well as a 2010 accolade with the women's team. He was also named Tri-State PGA of America Teacher of the Year in 2013 and has coached a total of 26 all-conference players and three NEC Golfer of the Year recipients.
Hey Rookies
The Colonials return 10 players who played at least one round in the shortened 2019-20 season, and add a trio of freshmen into the fold with
Skyler Fox,
Xavier Schwarz, and
Deven Stewart. Schwarz and Stewart signed National Letters of Intent (NLI) with RMU in January 2020, while Fox was a February 2020 signing.
Fox arrives in Moon Township as one of the Keystone State's top prep golfers, winning the PIAA 2A state championship as a senior. He is a three-time WPIAL medalist, capturing the honors consecutively in 2016, 2017, and 2018, before finishing second in 2019. In addition to his 2019 state title, the Beaver Falls, Pa. native placed second as a freshman, fifth as a sophomore, and fourth as a junior.
Schwarz comes from across the pond, hailing from Virginia Water, England. He is a two-time ISSA individual champion and helped lead Wentworth to ISSA team championships in 2016 and 2017. Schwarz posted a stroke average of 74 over his prep career, and won the Murray Mitchell Trophy at the St. Andrews Boys' Open.
Stewart is a product of Freeport, Ill. and made three all-conference and
Max Preps All-Star teams in high school. He is the 2019 Regional individual champion and a two-time state tournament qualifier, and was also bestowed with the Best of Rock Valley award.
Next Up
RMU makes its debut at the Horizon League Championships on April 25-27, which are held this season in West Lafayette, Ind. at Birck Boilermaker Golf Course. As of April 14's GolfStat rankings, the Colonials sit third among eight eligible teams in the conference at 237th, just behind Wright State (127th) and Oakland (171st).
Follow The Colonials: Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Gameday App
