VALDOSTA, Ga. – The No. 24 Valdosta State men's golf team opens the 2025 spring season Feb. 10-11 at the Matlock Collegiate in Lakeland, Fla., at Lone Palm Golf Club hosted by Florida Southern College.  The 15-team field is scheduled to play 36 holes on Monday followed by 18 holes on Tuesday to conclude the tournament.  
 
Fans can access links to live scoring of the tournament at vstateblazers.com on the men's golf schedule page.  Check back with vstateblazers.com each day for a complete recap.  
 
The field includes; No. 5 West Florida, No. 17 Rollins, No. 21 Cal State Monterey Bay, No. 24 Valdosta State, No. 26 Florida Southern, No. 29 Nova Southeastern, No. 39 Palm Beach Atlantic and No. 40 Montevallo among teams ranked in the Top 40 of the NCAA Division II Men's Golf Rankings powered by Clippd.  Lynn, Saint Leo, Barry, Tampa, Eckerd, Embry-Riddle and Georgia College complete the field.  
 
For this tournament, senior Chase Long earned the top spot for the Blazer lineup, followed by senior Parker Highsmith, sophomore Alex Nilehn, senior Brandon Cho and Junior Joshua Burki is fifth.  Sophomore Landon Bassford will be playing as an individual and seeing his first action of the 2024-25 season.
 
Long has a 70.83 stroke average for the season in six rounds, while Highsmith has a 74.08 average in 12 rounds.  Nilehn has played in 12 rounds for a 74.33 average this year, while Cho also has played in 12 rounds with a 72.58 average.  Burki has played nine rounds for a 75.56 average. 
 
Last year the Blazers finished 11^th in the tournament with a 54-hole score of 908 (298-292-318).  Burki, Cho, Nilehn and Long all played in the tournament last season with Long finishing tied for 25th with a 225 score.  Current Blazer sophomore, who is not playing in this tournament, Adam Waller finished the Matlock Collegiate with a 221 score and tied for 15^th to lead the team last season.
 
VSU has a quick turnaround following the tournament as it will return to The Sunshine State at the Saint Leo Invitational, Feb. 17-18 in Dade City, Fla., at Lake Jovita Golf Club.