Hilltoppers Head to Lipscomb Event After Month-Long Hiatus

Sargent Interview | Easton Interview | Bevington Interview

BOWLING GREEN, Ky. — After a month off from competition, WKU Hilltopper Golf returns to the course this week at Lipscomb's Ryman Hospitality Intercollegiate.

The Hilltoppers will be one of 11 programs competing Monday and Tuesday at the par-71, 6,943-yard Richland Country Club in Nashville, Tenn.

Teams will play two rounds Monday beginning with an 8:30 a.m. shotgun start, followed by Tuesday's final round at 8 a.m. with tee times.

This is the first tournament for WKU since participating in Houston's Border Olympics from March 9-10.

"It's been nice to not have so many weeks in a row," junior Stuart Easton said. "It gives you more time to work on the game and look back at how we played in the first few events and what we have to do to get better. But at the same time, it's frustrating because I think a few of us have been playing quite well and just want to get out there in tournament mode."

One of those players who's been dialed in is redshirt junior Billy Tom Sargent, who won the Border Olympics for his third career title.

Sargent fired a 12-under 204 in that event, the best 54-hole score by a Hilltopper since Neil Horsley shot a 203 at the Renaissance Invitational on Nov. 3, 2009.

"My short game and putting is finally getting there," Sargent said. "I've been working on that for probably the last two years, really, getting it to where I need it to be. One thing I've learned about my game is to just stay patient. The birdies will come if you just keep the bad numbers off."

After Lipscomb's event, WKU departs quickly for Purdue's Boilermaker Intercollegiate on April 14-15. Then the Hilltoppers will head into the Conference USA Championship, which begins April 22 in Texarkana, Ark.

Sargent and Easton will be joined at the Ryman Hospitality Intercollegiate by redshirt sophomore Linus Lo, sophomore Tom Bevington and freshman Crimson Callahan.

Bevington, who's fought for his spot in qualifying several times this season, said this round of qualifying during the break from play came down to the last hole.

"I've been playing in qualifying a lot, and we've been really competitive to where it feels like you're playing a tournament – a really tough round every time that you play," Bevington said. "It really pushes you competitively and gets you ready for tournaments when you have to compete for the team."

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Players Mentioned

Tom Bevington

Crimson Callahan

Stuart Easton

Linus Lo

Billy Tom Sargent