Pokes ranked 5th; travel to play at The Jackrabbit in South Dakota

McNeese's men's golf team maintained its high national ranking in this week's Golfweek poll as the Cowboys slipped just three spots to No. 5 even despite all teams in Division I starting their season.

The Cowboys, which will open play on Saturday at the South Dakota State Jackrabbit Golf Tournament, are ranked No. 2 in this week's Golfstat national poll while sophomore Bob MacIntyre is the top-ranked golfer in the nation by Golfstat, a spot that once featured Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson, just to name a few. He's ranked No. 3 individually by Golfweek.


McNeese, who dominated the Sam Hall Intercollegiate a couple of weeks ago with a 15-stroke win, will be put to the test at the three-day, 54-hole Jackrabbit tourney that will be played at the Prairie Club in Valentine, Nebraska.

In addition to the Cowboys, the field includes nationally ranked teams such as Arizona State (10), Texas A&M (19), South Florida (39), Missouri (42), Oregon (79), as well as Central Florida, Michigan State, Nebraska, Creighton, Cincinnati, Connecticut, and South Dakota State.

The field also includes four of the nation's top 50 individual golfers in McNeese's MacIntyre (1/3) andAndreas Krokeide (11/25) and Arizona State's Alberto Sanchez, who is sixth, and Jon Rahm at No. 22.

"We're very excited to get back on the road," said McNeese head coach Austin Burk. "I think our guys are going to play well and compete this week for the team win.

"MacIntyre got a nice win last week and may do the same this week but (Martin) Eriksson and Krokeide are just as capable of winning."

MacIntyre leads the team with a 66.33 average score followed by Krokeide with a 68.0, Erikson at 70.0, and Duncan McNeill with a 72.0. Making up the fifth spot this week will be freshman Niall McMullenwho will be playing in his first collegiate tournament.

The Cowboys are set to tee off at 10:40 on Saturday morning and will be paired with Arizona State and Texas A&M.

Golfweek Top 15 Poll
1. Auburn
2. Florida State
3. Clemson
4. Illinois
5. McNeese
6. South Carolina
7. Oklahoma State
8. LSU
9. Georgia Tech
10. Arizona State
11. Stanford
12. Georgia
13. Vanderbilt
14. Wake Forest
15. Duke