TOWSON, Md. – The Towson men's golf team will play its fourth tournament of the 2021 spring campaign this weekend at the Fairleigh Dickinson Invitational in Fayetteville, Pa. The two-day event will take place on the Founders Course at the Penn National Golf Club on Friday and Saturday.

With only one day between tournaments, head coach Mike Larkin selected Justin Griffith, Brad Riley, Jackson Courtney, Jeremy Summerson and Julian Gonzalez with his Coach's Picks. Griffith, Riley, Courtney and Summerson have played in every tournament this spring.

Griffith shot a career-best 69 during the second round of the Furman Invitational and was Towson's top finisher at the tournament. The junior has averaged 74.6 strokes per round the last two tournaments, the Carpetbagger Classic (March 20-21) and the Furman Invitational (March 26-28).

Riley was Towson's No. 2 finisher at both the Carpetbagger and Furman Invitational. The sophomore has averaged 75.4 strokes the last two tournaments. 
 
Courtney shot even par 72 during the final round of the Carpetbagger where he was the Tigers top performer. The senior has averaged 75.6 strokes the last two tournaments.  
 
Summerson was Towson's top finisher at the Southern Invitational (March 1-2). Other than the opening round at the Carpetbagger, the sophomore is averaging 75.5 strokes per round.
 
Gonzalez, a junior transfer from nearby Goucher, played in the Southern Invitational and Carpetbagger Classic. He shot a season-low 74 in the final round of the Southern Invitational.

The Fairleigh Dickinson Invitational includes 10 teams – Bryant, Fairleigh Dickinson, LIU, Mount St. Mary's, Robert Morris, Sacred Heart, St. Francis (PA.), Towson, Wagner and Youngstown State.

Towson will tee off at 10 a.m. on Friday, while Saturday features at 10:15 shotgun start.

TOURNAMENT DETAILS 
Host: Fairleigh Dickinson
Location: Fayetteville, Pa.   
Dates: April 2-3, 2021 
Course: Penn National Golf Club (Founders Course) – 6,972 yards; par 72
Towson is scheduled to play in Abarta Collegiate Invitational (April 18-19) before the Colonial Athletic Association Championship (April 25-27).

THE VETERAN
Jackson Courtney has now qualified for 26 of the 30 events during his Towson career. The senior has produced seven rounds of playing to par or better, including a pair of 70's. Courtney was named Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Golfer of the Week after finishing sixth in the Carpetbagger Classic (March 20-21).  After three tournaments this season, he ranks second on the team in scoring average (75.9).  Six of his eight rounds have been 76 or better.

TOURNAMENT TESTED   
Junior Justin Griffith has made the travel roster in each of the 20 events since arriving on campus, including the Fairleigh Dickinson Invitational. The Pittsburgh native, who was Towson's top finisher in two of five spring events as a freshman and shot a 70 at the Fort Lauderdale Intercollegiate tournament last March, carded a career-best 69 during the second round of the Furman Invitational on March 27.  After three tournaments this season, he leads the team in scoring average (75.5). Five of his eight rounds have been 75 or better.  
 
IDENTICAL TWINS?    
Sophomores Brad Riley and Jeremy Summerson both averaged 74.0 in five tournaments during their freshman campaigns. Riley, who was named Player of the Year by The Washington Post as a senior after winning the state championship, made six eagles during the fall 2019. Summerson, a long hitter from upstate New York, had five rounds of par of better during his first season.

After three tournaments and eight rounds this season, Summerson has taken five fewer strokes (612 to 617).

INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR     
A two-time Costa Rican national champion, Julian Gonzalez played two seasons at nearby Goucher College. As a freshman, he won two tournaments, including the Landmark Conference Preview. That season he had a 71.38 scoring average and earned Division III All-America Honorable Mention honors.
 
WELCOME HOME    
Jairus Gaines played two seasons at Hampton. He finished t-11th at the rain-shortened 2019 Towson Fall Invitational at Prospect Bay, shooting a round of 73. A Gilman School graduate, Gaines finished second in the MIAA championship as a senior.

HOWARD COUNTY'S FINEST
Three members of the 2021 team hail from nearby Howard County. Jackson Courtney was part of a Marriotts Ridge team that compiled a 44-0 record over four years. He tied the county record for lowest nine holes (four under par), won county championship and finished second in the state and district championships in the fall of 2016 as a senior. Derek Gold finished second to Courtney in 2016 and won the county championship a year earlier while at River Hill. He was an individual state qualifier as a freshman and senior. At Atholton High, Branden Nguyen led the county in scoring during his junior and senior seasons and reached the state championships all four years.
 
DOWN MEMORY LANE
Four current golfers teed it up in the 2016 Maryland Public School State championship at the University of Maryland Golf Course. Courtney was the runner-up after rounds of 77-71. Gold (73-84) finished in a tie for 17^th, Riley (78-83) finished tied for 25^th, while Nguyen (83-83) was 41^st.

STUDENT-ATHLETES
During the fall semester, the Towson men's golf team had the highest GPA among men's programs with a 3.411 and has the highest cumulative men's GPA at 3.390. Derek Gold earned a perfect 4.0 GPA, while Jeremy Summerson (3.976), Julian Gonzalez (3.85), Branden Nguyen (3.8) and Justin Griffith (3.55) all earned Dean's List honors.

CAREER-BEST ROUNDS    
Below is the collegiate low round for each member of the Towson golf team. Gaines and Gonzalez produced their scores at other institutions.
 

• Justin Griffith              69           March 27, 2021
• Brad Riley                   69           Sept. 15, 2019 & Oct. 14, 2019
• Julian Gonzalez          69           Sept. 23, 2018 & Oct. 6, 2018
• Jackson Courtney       70           Sept. 22, 2018 & Apr. 7, 2019
• Jeremy Summerson    70           Sept. 14, 2019
• Jairus Gaines              71           Sept. 27, 2019
• Derek Gold                  73           Oct. 19, 2019
• Branden Nguyen         78           March 27, 2021

 
DID YOU KNOW?    
Towson head coach Mike Larkin finished ahead of both PGA Tour standouts Kevin Kisner and Luke List at the 2005 NCAA Division I Men's Golf East Regionals. Larkin, playing as the No. 3 player for Towson behind Hall of Famers Billy Wingerd and Jeff Castle, shot rounds of 71-73-72 for a three-over par 216 to finish in a tie for 48^th place, beating Kisner (Georgia) by a stroke and List (Vanderbilt) by two. Coastal Carolina's Dustin Johnson, now the No. 1 ranked player in the world, won the event, shooting 15-under. The field also included PGA Tour standouts Webb Simpson (Wake Forest), Brendon Todd (Georgia) and Jeff Overton (Indiana).
 
TIGERS IN THE COMMUNITY    
The Towson University athletics department deems community service as one of its highest priorities to give back to the Greater Baltimore area. Towson was on track to have its 8th consecutive year of over 10,000 hours of community service in 2019-20 before the COVID-19 pandemic shut down all activity.  Towson finished with 7,527 hours last year, good for third in the NCAA Teamworks HelperHelper competition. Towson ranked #1 nationally for community service and won the 2018 National Championship for Community Service through the HelperHelper NCAA Team Works Competition.  Towson also won the 2018 Volunteer of the Year Award from Susan G. Komen of Maryland.