LAKELAND, Fla. – The No. 24 Valdosta State men's golf team fired a final round 303 to finish with a 54-hole score of 883 (294-286-303) to finish 11^th at the 2025 Matlock Collegiate hosted by Florida Southern College.  
 
VSU entered the final round seventh with a 4-over 580 score.  No. 5-ranked West Florida won the 15-team tournament with a 27-under 837 score, while host No. 27 Florida Southern was second at 848 and No. 28 Nova Southeastern fired a final round 282 to move up three spots to finish third at 4-under 860.  Barry finished fourth at 868, while Saint Leo shot 289 on Tuesday to jump four spots to finish fifth with an 871 score. 
 
No. 21 Cal State Monterey Bay and No. 17 Rollins tied for sixth at 872, followed by Tampa (876), while No. 41 Montevallo was ninth (877), followed by Embry-Riddle (882) to round out the top ten.  VSU was 11^th, followed by Lynn (889), while No. 39 Palm Beach Atlantic was 13^th (890).  Eckerd finished 14^th at 897 and Georgia College was 15^th at 919.  
 
Florida Southern's Colton Swartz, ranked 44^th nationally, fired a 5-under 67 on Tuesday to earn medalist honors with a 13-under 203, edging No. 22 Per Ekelund of West Florida by two strokes (205).  UWF's Fabian Wennerlof finished third at 9-under 207, followed by FSC's Max Barile (208) who is 59^th nationally, and Barry's Anthony Garcia finished fifth at 7-under 209.  
 
For the Blazers, senior Chase Long finished tied for 24^th with a 219 score on rounds of 72, 71, 76. Sophomore Alexander Nilehn finished tied for 32^nd with a 221 score on rounds of 74, 70, 77, while seniors Brandon Cho and Parker Highsmith tied for 44^th at 223 as Cho carded rounds of 73, 73, 77 and Highsmith at 78, 72, 73.  Junior Joshua Burki tied for 71^st with a 233 score on rounds of 75, 79 and 79.  Playing as an individual, sophomore Landon Bassford finished tied for 50^th with a 224 score on rounds of 74, 74 and 76.  
 
The Blazers return home to prepare for the Saint Leo Invitational, Feb. 17-18 at Lake Jovita Golf Club in Dade City, Fla.