TOWSON, Md. – The Maryland State Golf Association (MSGA) will conduct the 102nd Maryland Open Championship from July 10-12 at Hillendale Country Club Course in Baltimore County. Nine of the 131 players who qualified are either current or former Towson University men's golfers.

The field will feature David Hutsell (class 1992), Adam Argenbright (1998), Billy Wingerd (2005), Mike Larkin (2005), Chris Baloga (2005), Ryan Siegler (2016), Nick Smearman (2017), Brad Riley (2024) and Jai Sheth (2026). Jeff Castle (2007) qualified but opted out earlier this week.

"We have a lot of competitive guys who played at Towson throughout the years," said Larkin, who just finished his sixth season as the Tigers head coach. "We have nine Towson Tiger chances to bring home a state title. It speaks to the quality that we have here."

The Maryland Open is open to amateur members of MSGA member clubs with a handicap index of 7.1 or less, to professionals employed by member clubs or residents of Maryland.

The format is 54 holes of stroke play, with all players playing 36 holes and a cut to the low 40 scorers and ties for the final round. The event is open to both amateur and professional golfers and has been played annually since 1921 at a variety of courses around the state.

Previous winners include Fred Funk, who won 29 professional tournaments including the 2005 Players Championship and the 2009 U.S. Senior Open, and Denny McCarthy, who has six top 10 finishes on the PGA Tour this season and is currently ranked 34th in the World Golf rankings.

Six previous champions will compete, including Wingerd, who prevailed in 2007, and Hutsell, who was victorious four years later.

"You are playing against the best amateurs, college kids and pros in the Maryland Open," Wingerd said. "I didn't have the lead until the very last hole. I birdied 17 and 18. Chip Sullivan made a bogey on 18 and flipped the script. I went from one down to one up and won the tournament."

Wingerd and Hutsell will be paired together during Monday's opening round.

Hutsell began his college career playing baseball at UMBC before transferring to Towson where he played two seasons for head coach Spiro Morekas. After turning professional in 1993, he blossomed into one of the best players in the Baltimore metropolitan area. He qualified for the PGA Championship in 2010 and 2011 and earned the 2011 PGA Professional National Championship. When he won the Maryland Open that July, he fired a 65 in the final round to set a scoring record at Maryland Golf and Country Club.

Argenbright played 27 rounds for the Tigers during the 1995-96 and 1996-97 seasons. Now a corporal in the Maryland State Police, he finished tied for fourth in the Maryland Senior Open last October after rounds of 70-74.

Wingerd, Larkin and Baloga were key members of the two greatest teams in Towson history (2003-04, 2004-05). which included back-to-back NCAA Regional Championships appearances under head coach Brian Yaniger.

Wingerd is the top two golfer in school history. He became Towson's first Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Championship medalist and Player of the Year when he captured the individual conference title in 2004. He is the only Towson golfer to earn first team All-CAA honors three times and earned a spot on the CAA's 25th Anniversary men's golf team in 2010. He was named Towson's Male Athlete of the Year as a senior and was inducted into the Towson Athletics Hall of Fame in 2017. On the Towson leaderboard, Wingerd remains the program's career average leader at 73.00 over 104 rounds.

Larkin ranks 10^th on the all-time scoring list (75.0) and is one of nine players to play at least 100 career rounds. During the 2005 NCAA East Regionals, he finished ahead of both PGA Tour standouts Kevin Kisner and Luke List. He shot rounds of 71-73-72 to finish in a tie for 48^th place, beating Kisner (Georgia) by a stroke and List (Vanderbilt) by two. Dustin Johnson (Coastal Carolina) won the event.

Baloga, now the head coach at nearby Loyola University, ranks in the top 20 in both scoring averaging (75.6) and total rounds (94). He and Larkin will be in the first group teeing off on Monday morning.

"It is pretty cool to see that the three of us went to school together and all entering different stages in life and still able to compete," Wingerd added. "But it is challenging. The hardest part is maximizing the time you have. My eight-year-old daughter started dance and my son is starting soccer. With so many commitments with them, I just don't get a chance to practice. I haven't hit balls on the range. When I get a chance, I just play. It is making sure you know what you are doing on the course. I play differently now and just find a way to minimize damage. To stay in the mix, it is all about limiting the mistakes because I don't have the ability to recover like I used to."

Siegler and Smearman were teammates for three seasons.

Siegler ranks sixth on the all-time list in rounds played and 20^th in scoring average. Turning professional in 2018, he has earned status on both the Korn Ferry and PGA Canada tours. He has finished in the top five in the last three Maryland Open tournaments, including a tie for second place a year ago. 

Smearman played 31 rounds in a Tiger uniform and helped the Towson finish third at the CAA championship as a senior.

Riley has been mainstay in the lineup the last four seasons and currently ranks seventh on the all-time scoring list with a 74.6 average. He finished 11^th at the CAA championship as a sophomore in 2021 and shot a career-best 68 at the Doc Gimmler last September.

"Hillendale is where I got through U.S. Open local qualifying a year ago, so it a place where I have had success," said Riley, who is playing in his fifth consecutive Maryland Open. "I am looking forward to getting back and recapturing some of the good feelings from last summer. There have been some great players at Towson throughout the years and I want to add my name to that list."

Sheth played in four tournaments as a freshman in 2022-23. He also represented Towson at the PGA Works Collegiate Championships, shooting a season-low 69 during the second round.