VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State men's golf team returns to The Sunshine State for the 2025 Saint Leo Invitational, Monday and Tuesday at Jake Jovita Golf Club in Dade City, Fla.
 
The Blazers, who are No. 32 in the latest Clippd NCAA Division II Men's Rankings, are coming off an 11^th-place finish at the Matlock Collegiate hosted by Florida Southern last week.  VSU carded rounds of 294 and 286 for the first two rounds, but struggled in the third round finishing with a 303.  Senior Chase Long paced the team finishing tied for 24^th with a 219 score on rounds of 72, 71 and 76.  
 
A number of the teams VSU saw at the Matlock also will be competing in the tournament this week, including; No. 12 Florida Southern, No. 19 Rollins, No. 23 Nova Southeastern, No. 42 Montevallo, No. 43 Barry, No. 44 Palm Beach Atlantic, No. 54 Saint Leo, No. 59 Embry-Riddle, along with Eckerd, Georgia College, Lynn and Tampa.  Also competing in the tournament this week are No. 8 Lee, Kentucky Wesleyan, Trevecca Nazarene and Virginia Union round out the 18-team field.
 
Fans can access links to live stats of the tournament this week on the men's golf schedule page at vstateblazers.com.  Check back with the site each day for a complete recap and results of the tournament. The tournament is slated for 36 holes on Monday and 18 on Tuesday.  
 
For the Blazers, this week's lineup is very similar to last week with Long in the top spot, followed by sophomore Alexander Nilehn.  Senior Parker Highsmith is in the third spot, followed by senior Brandon Cho and sophomore Adam Waller is in the fifth spot.  Sophomore Landon Bassford will play as an individual for the second-straight tournament as he finished tied for 50^th last week with a 224 score on rounds of 74, 74 and 76.  Bassford recorded two eagles in the tournament last week.  Waller will be playing in his first tournament of the season this week.
 
Last season, the Blazers finished fifth at the Saint Leo Invitational with a 7-under 857 score on rounds of 288, 281 and 288.  Waller paced the team finishing tied for 17^th with a 213 score on rounds of 74, 69 and 70.  Highsmith, Long and Cho also were among the lineup for the Blazers, while Nilehn was an individual who finished tied for 15^th with a 212 score on rounds of 76, 68 and 68.  
 
Following the tournament, VSU returns home to prepare for the First Federal Southeastern Collegiate, Mar. 10-11 at Kinderlou Forest Golf Club in Valdosta.