VALDOSTA, Ga. – The Valdosta State men's golf team opens the 2026 spring season at the Matlock Collegiate, Monday and Tuesday at Lone Palm Golf Club in Lakeland, Fla. The tournament will consist of 36-holes Monday and 18-holes Tuesday.  
 
The 14-team field is hosted by No. 5 Florida Southern University.  In another strong edition to this long-standing tournament, all 14 teams are in the top 100 of the national rankings with No. 4 West Florida as the highest ranked team and the aforementioned Mocs of Florida Southern. 
 
Barry enters at 12^th, followed by No. 19 Saint Leo, No. 20 Rollins, No. 22 Nova Southeastern, No. 28 USC Beaufort and No. 29 Lynn to round out the top 30.  Palm Beach Atlantic checks in at No. 37, followed by No. 43 Tampa, No. 48 Embry-Riddle, No. 54 Eckerd, No. 87 Valdosta State and No. 91 Montevallo complete the field.  
 
The Blazer lineup consists of junior William Carestam at the top spot in the lineup, followed by junior Alexander Nilehn, senior Elad Sebbag, junior Adam Waller and senior Joshua Burki rounds out the top five.  Junior Nick Mueller will be playing as an individual.  
 
In the fall, the Blazers competed in five tournaments with a season-best finish at The Griffin Invitational the first week of the season at 5^th with an 877 score.  VSU carded a low team 54-hole score of 865 at the NCAA Division II National Preview in Boulder City, Nev.  
 
Carestam leads the team with a 72.9 stroke average in 15 rounds, while Nilehn is second at a 73.0 average for the season.  Nilehn finished tied for third at The Griffin Invitational for the best finish of the season by a Blazer so far.  He had a 5-under 211 score (70,70,71).   Carestam's best finish was tied for 14^th at the Fripp Island to Bermuda Invitational where he carded an even par 216.  
 
Click here for live scoring of the tournament.  Check back with vstateblazers.com each day for complete recaps and results of the rounds.