WEST POINT, Miss. - The 2026-27 Valdosta State men's golf season tees off on Sept 21-22 at the Dunning Invitational, hosted by Delta State University.

The 54-hole tournament will feature 36-holes played on Monday and the final 18 played on Tuesday. The tournament field includes 11 Division II teams with UT Dallas, Spring Hill, Mississippi Christian, Shorter, Miles, Trevecca Nazarene, Christian Brothers, Montevallo and Texas A&M-Texarkana.

Valdosta State is the only team in the field mentioned on the Bushnell/Golfweek DII Coaches Poll released earlier this month on Sept. 4 with the team receiving 11 points in the poll.

The Blazers lineup features an experienced group led by the senior trio of Adam Waller, William Carestam and Alexander Nilehn. Freshman Jonah Nacional and David Wagner make their collegiate golf debut. Sophomore returner Kaleb Shiver will play as an individual. 

Carestam and Nilehn enter the 2026-27 campaign fresh off of appearances in the NCAA South/Southeast Super Regional.

Carestam posted a 72.6 stroke average in 12 tournaments and 36 rounds last season. He earned GSC Golfer of the Week twice and has fired 30 rounds in the 70s with five in the 60s, with a low-round of 68 at the NSU Shark Invitational. He had two top ten finishes with his best being sixth at the NSU Shark Invitational with a 209 score (68, 72, 69).

Nilehn recorded a 72.7 stroke average in 12 tournaments for the previous season. He shot 33 of 36 rounds in the 70s with two in the 60s, with a low-round of 66 at the Saint Leo Invitational. He had one top three finish last season (T-3rd) at The Griffin Invitational and finished in the top ten four times last season, including finishing ninth at the 2026 GSC Championships with a 3-under 213 score.
He was named second team All-GSC for the second year in a row, while earning GSC All-Academic, GSC Academic Honor Roll and CSC All-Academic accolades. 

Waller shot a 75.4 stroke average last year. He played in eight tournaments for 24 rounds for the Blazers. The Jacksonville native finished a season-best 13th at the NSU Shark Invitational (Mar. 23-24) as he fired a 2-under 211 score on rounds of 72, 70, 69. Waller finished 21st at the GSC Championship last season with a 222 score on rounds of 73, 74, 75.

Shiver played in four tournaments for 12 rounds as a freshman for the Blazers. The sophomore finished a season-best 21st at the Gulf South Conference Championship where he finished with a 222 score on rounds of 75, 76 and 71. The Lowndes county native finished with 11 rounds in the 70s last season.

Valdosta State returns to the Mossy Oak Golf Course after playing in the Statesmen Classic in the 2024-25 season. The Blazers placed third in a field of 14 teams with a 54-hole score of 870. Nilehn finished tied for 26th with a score of 223 on rounds of 71, 75 and 77.

Live scoring updates are available on Scoreboard by Clippd the link can be found here.

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