WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The No. 39-ranked Purdue men's golf team wraps up a busy week, heading to Florida on short rest for the elite Calusa Cup, hosted by the University of Iowa at Calusa Pines Golf Club.
Action gets underway Sunday at the difficult Calusa Pines as nine teams descend to Naples, Florida. The teams will play 18 holes on three straight days, beginning Sunday and ending Tuesday.
Just nine teams will be competing this weekend, but among them are four of the nation's top-five ranked teams, and four more, including Purdue, inside the top 40. Only the host school, Iowa, is outside the nation's top 40. Purdue is 2-5-0 in head-to-head competition against the field (0-1 vs. Texas Tech; 0-2 vs. Ohio State; 0-1 vs. Georgia; 2-1 vs. Iowa).
THE FIELD (Golfstat Rankings / as of March 31, 2023)
1 Vanderbilt
2 Texas Tech
3 North Carolina
5 Arizona State
26 Ohio State
29 Georgia
35 Wake Forest
39 Purdue
89 Iowa
LAST TIME OUT
Playing for first time in over a month, the Boilermakers pieced together one of their best performances of the season, placing fourth at the Hootie at Bulls Bay with a 30-under par 834 (274-280-280), finishing 10 shots behind champion East Tennessee State. The 834 tied for the fourth-best, 54-hole score in school history while the first-round 274 tied for the ninth-best, 18-hole score in Purdue history. Herman Sekne placed third at 15-under par 201, while Nick Dentino recorded his second-career top-10 finish at 11-under par 205, good for a sixth-place tie.
TEAM NOTES
PURDUE LINEUP
THE COURSE
The Hurdzan/Fry-designed Calusa Pines Golf Club is located in Naples, Florida, and is the site of the Calusa Cup. The scenic course is known for its beautiful vistas and stylistically diverse holes. Consistently ranked one of the top golf courses in Florida, Calusa Pines rewards experienced players who can be dynamic in their style of play and calculate when to take risks. The expansive par-72 course stretches 7,203 yards.
CALUSA CUP HISTORY
This marks the third appearance at the Calusa Cup for the Boilermakers, finishing eighth in 2021 and fifth a year ago. Last season, Purdue shot 18-over par 882 (290-302-290) to finish 26 shots behind Georgia Tech, but just one shot out of fourth place Oklahoma (+17). Purdue posted wins over Georgia, Clemson, Iowa and Marquette in the tournament. Cole Bradley led the Boilermakers with a ninth-place finish at 1-over par 217.
WEATHER FORECAST
Sunday: Mostly sunny, 86 degrees, NW winds 10-15 MPH.
Monday: Partly cloudy, 88 degrees, S winds 5-10 MPH.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny, 90 degrees, SSE winds 10-15 MPH.
LIVE SCORING
Will be available on Golfstat.com.
Action gets underway Sunday at the difficult Calusa Pines as nine teams descend to Naples, Florida. The teams will play 18 holes on three straight days, beginning Sunday and ending Tuesday.
Just nine teams will be competing this weekend, but among them are four of the nation's top-five ranked teams, and four more, including Purdue, inside the top 40. Only the host school, Iowa, is outside the nation's top 40. Purdue is 2-5-0 in head-to-head competition against the field (0-1 vs. Texas Tech; 0-2 vs. Ohio State; 0-1 vs. Georgia; 2-1 vs. Iowa).
THE FIELD (Golfstat Rankings / as of March 31, 2023)
1 Vanderbilt
2 Texas Tech
3 North Carolina
5 Arizona State
26 Ohio State
29 Georgia
35 Wake Forest
39 Purdue
89 Iowa
LAST TIME OUT
Playing for first time in over a month, the Boilermakers pieced together one of their best performances of the season, placing fourth at the Hootie at Bulls Bay with a 30-under par 834 (274-280-280), finishing 10 shots behind champion East Tennessee State. The 834 tied for the fourth-best, 54-hole score in school history while the first-round 274 tied for the ninth-best, 18-hole score in Purdue history. Herman Sekne placed third at 15-under par 201, while Nick Dentino recorded his second-career top-10 finish at 11-under par 205, good for a sixth-place tie.
TEAM NOTES
- Purdue has finished in the top five of five of its seven tournaments played this season. Purdue is on track to make NCAA Regionals for the eighth time in nine regionals under head coach Rob Bradley.
- Purdue has had 15 tournaments in school history of 850 or lower. Twelve of them have come under head coach Rob Bradley.
- Purdue has had 12 rounds in school history of 275 or lower. Eleven of them have come under Bradley.
- Seven different players have shot a round in the 60s this season.
- Just nine of Purdue's 20 rounds have been even- or under par this year, with just two rounds in the 270s. A year ago, Purdue had 17 of its 30 rounds at even- or under-par.
PURDUE LINEUP
- Herman Sekne / Junior / Oslo, Norway
- Was named Big Ten Golfer of the Week for the sixth time in his career after finishing third at the Hootie at Bulls Bay.
- His six Big Ten Golfer of the Week honors are tied for the fifth most in league history (Jorge Campillo, Jeff Overton – 9; Thomas Detry – 8; Charlie Danielson – 7).
- Now has 11 career top-10 finishes, good for ninth in school history. Has played just 23 career events.
- Has 33 even- or under-par rounds among his 69 career rounds played.
- His nine rounds in the 60s this season are already tied for third in school history.
- Has 10, top-10 finishes in his last 14 events dating to last season.
- Ranks first in career stroke average by over a full stroke (71.78). Austin Eoff is second at 72.82 strokes.
- Since the start of last year, Sekne is a cumulative 41-under par (70.77 strokes per round; 3,397 strokes – 48 rounds).
- Won the Rich Harvest Farms Intercollegiate and Boilermaker Fall Invitational in back-to-back tournaments as a sophomore, the latter by a whopping seven shots.
- The only player with four career tournaments of 205 or better.
- Finished T-16th at the elite World Amateur Team Championship in early September, helping Norway to a fourth-place team finish.
- Played in the elite Jones Cup Invitational during the winter, finishing 14th.
- Has risen to 54th in the World Amateur Golf Rankings (WAGR) and 24th in the NCAA individual rankings.
- Nick Dentino / Senior / Carmel, Indiana
- Recorded his second career top-10 finish at the Hootie at Bulls Bay, posting a T-6th showing with a career-best score of 205 (-11).
- Marked his first top-10 finish since the first event of his freshman season in Sept. 2019 Finished as the runner-up at the Island Resort Intercollegiate.
- Ranks 14th on Purdue's career stroke average chart (73.73).
- Recorded back-to-back top-20 showings to start the season at the Badger Invitational (T-16) and Inverness Intercollegiate (T-15).
- Kent Hsiao / Sophomore / Taipei, Taiwan
- Had an outstanding winter session, moving into the lineup through qualifying.
- Finished T-34th at the competitive Puerto Rico Classic, competing in his first tournament on the counting team (71-73-70=214; -2).
- Started strong at the Hootie at Bulls Bay, shooting 5-under par (67-72) in the first two rounds, before faltering in the third round.
- Has played in two events this season, finishing tied for fourth at the Purdue Fall Individual at the Ackerman-Allen Golf Course (74-69-71=214; -2).
- Peyton Snoeberger / Senior / Williamsport, Indiana
- Finished T-12th at the Purdue Fall Invite, shooting 3-over par 219 (74-73-72).
- Third on the team in third-round scoring (71.50).
- Big final round of even-par 70 at Marquette to help Purdue to a fifth-place team finish.
- Strong performance at Inverness, finishing T-12 as an individual at 3-over par 216. It marked his third top-15 performance in his last four events (T-14 at Purdue Fall Invite; T-11 at Boilermaker Invite; T-53 at Badger Invite; T-12 at Inverness).
- Coming off an outstanding summer, where he qualified for the Round of 32 match play at the U.S. Amateur and was second at the Indiana Open.
- Placed in the top 15 at both the Purdue Fall Invitational and Boilermaker Invitational last season.
- Three of his seven rounds a year ago were even- or under-par.
- Nels Surtani / Junior / Indianapolis, Indiana
- Has played in seven events this season, owning a 72.55 stroke average, sharing the team lead with 11 rounds of even-par or better.
- Played the final 36 holes in the Hootie at Bulls Bay in 6-under par 138 (70-68), finishing tied for 30th after a tough first round.
- Owns three top-20 showings in his seven events, with a T-7th finish at Inverness.
- Second on the team with three rounds in the 60s.
THE COURSE
The Hurdzan/Fry-designed Calusa Pines Golf Club is located in Naples, Florida, and is the site of the Calusa Cup. The scenic course is known for its beautiful vistas and stylistically diverse holes. Consistently ranked one of the top golf courses in Florida, Calusa Pines rewards experienced players who can be dynamic in their style of play and calculate when to take risks. The expansive par-72 course stretches 7,203 yards.
CALUSA CUP HISTORY
This marks the third appearance at the Calusa Cup for the Boilermakers, finishing eighth in 2021 and fifth a year ago. Last season, Purdue shot 18-over par 882 (290-302-290) to finish 26 shots behind Georgia Tech, but just one shot out of fourth place Oklahoma (+17). Purdue posted wins over Georgia, Clemson, Iowa and Marquette in the tournament. Cole Bradley led the Boilermakers with a ninth-place finish at 1-over par 217.
WEATHER FORECAST
Sunday: Mostly sunny, 86 degrees, NW winds 10-15 MPH.
Monday: Partly cloudy, 88 degrees, S winds 5-10 MPH.
Tuesday: Mostly sunny, 90 degrees, SSE winds 10-15 MPH.
LIVE SCORING
Will be available on Golfstat.com.