DALLAS – After opening the season at a familiar venue in Fort Collins, the Shockers return to action with their first trip to Trinity Forest Golf Club for the Trinity Forest Invitational, hosted by SMU. Play will begin Sunday and run through Tuesday, with 18 holes on the schedule each day.

With a loaded 17-team field on the docket, head coach Judd Easterling is eager to see how his group responds to the challenge.

"This event will be a really good test of where we stand early in the season," Easterling said. "It's a very strong field, a championship-style golf course, and we're taking what is right now our top five guys. We have three Texas kids, so there should be a good turnout and they should feel right at home. Excited to get down and hopefully come back with some confidence and be ready to go in our home event at Crestview next week."

The field is highlighted by a bevy of top-50 programs, including Middle Tennessee State (31st in last season's final rankings), Baylor (32nd), New Mexico (38th) and Little Rock (44th), plus American Athletic Conference foes SMU and Houston. SMU has won the event each of the last two seasons, and will be paired with the Shockers. The Mustangs and Shockers are the last group to tee off on Sunday, scheduled for 10:15 am.

For Easterling, Trinity Forest provides an opportunity to test themselves against some of the nation's best.

"It comes down to competing with top-25 schools and believing that they can, knowing that they've reached this level for a reason," Easterling said. "They're not just here by chance. They've earned this. We've got a junior college national champion, a fifth-year guy, so we can compete at the highest level. We just have to go down there and do it."

The Shockers are coming off an eighth place finish at the Ram Masters Invitational to kick off the fall campaign, led by a pair of 23rd place finishes from Michael Winslow and Blake Lorenz. Three of the five members of Easterling's starting lineup were making their Wichita State debut.

The course at Trinity Forest will play as a par-72 at 7372 yards.

"It's a really good golf course in Dallas that has hosted some high level events," Easterling said. "It's a links style, similar to Flint Hills and Terradyne, with similar grass, so we should be in good shape."

The Shockers make just one change to the starting lineup from Fort Collins, with senior Dawson Lewis replacing Lucas Scheufler in the five. Lorenz moves up to the number one spot on the card, with Winslow, Aston Castillo and J.T. Pittman joining Lewis.
 
Wichita State will tee off from the tenth hole to open play. Fans can follow live scoring via golfstat.
 

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Trinity Forest Invitational Fast Facts:
Dates: Sunday-Tuesday, Oct. 2-4, 2022
Host: SMU
Location: Dallas, Texas (Trinity Forest Golf Club)
Yardage: 7372 Yard
Par: 72
Format: 54 Holes (18 Sunday, 18 Monday, 18 Tuesday)
Start Times: Round 1 (10:15 a.m. from hole 10)
Live Scoring: golfstat
The Field: 17 teams
SMU (A&B teams), Baylor, Houston, UTSA, UT Arlington, Abilene Christian, Florida Atlantic, Louisiana Tech, Loyola Marymount, Little Rock, New Mexico, Middle Tennessee State, North Texas, Sam Houston, Furman, Wichita State
 

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Shocker Lineup:
Blake Lorenz (Jr.) – Avoided any double-bogeys in Shocker debut...tied for best individual 18 of the tournament with a final round 68
Michael Winslow (So.) – 23rd place finish at Ram Masters was best of young Shocker career...notched one of two WSU eagles
Aston Castillo (Jr.) – Tied for 55th in Wichita State debut...did not shoot worse than 75 in any round
Dawson Lewis (Sr.) – Wichita State's active leader in both events and rounds played...making season debut as the only change in lineup
J.T. Pittman (Jr.) – Bounced back from rocky opening round in Fort Collins to fire a second round 69...finished in a tie for 55th with Castillo