The East Tennessee State University (ETSU) men’s golf team will begin its spring season at the 2026 Colleton River Collegiate, hosted by Michigan State University. The tournament is scheduled for March 1-3 at the Colleton River Golf Club’s Pete Dye Course in Bluffton, South Carolina. The event features a par-72 course stretching 7,403 yards and follows a format of 36 holes on Monday and 18 holes on Tuesday.
Participating teams include Michigan State, Indiana, Cincinnati, Rutgers, ETSU, Missouri (Mizzou), Chattanooga, Iowa, Kansas State, Northwestern, Kentucky, Ohio State, Minnesota, Iowa State and Memphis.
The Buccaneers’ lineup includes freshmen Oliver Blackadder from Aberdeen, Scotland; Veigar Heidarsson from Akureyri, Iceland; a senior from Munich, Germany; a freshman from Cologne, Germany; and a sophomore from Dublin, Ireland.
In their previous outing at the Ka’anapali Classic during the fall season, each ETSU player finished at least one-under-par in a single round for the first time this season. Three team members recorded rounds of five-under or better. The senior led the Bucs with all three rounds under par and posted a second-round score of 65 (-6). The sophomore achieved a total score of 208 (-5) over three rounds with his best round being a 66 (-5) in the second round. These performances marked personal bests for both players during the current schedule. ETSU finished ninth overall with a team score of 828 (-24), their top result so far in the 2025-26 campaign.
Last season (2024-25), ETSU won its fifth consecutive Southern Conference Tournament title—the first under head coach O’Callaghan—and advanced to the NCAA Reno Regional where they placed ninth. Several players were named Cobalt Golf Academic All-Americans following that season. One athlete led ETSU throughout the year by earning three SoCon Golfer of the Week honors and was named SoCon Player of the Year. Bressum placed 21st at the Reno Regional after finishing fifth at the SoCon Championship. Another team member was runner-up at SoCon Championships with a score of 207 (-9) and previously set a career-best round of 61 (-11) at The Virginian tournament.
Additionally, an ETSU golfer represented Ireland in the 2025 Walker Cup and secured victory over American Michael La Sasso as a “2&1 winner.”
