The Youngstown State men's golf team will resume the spring portion of its 2025-26 season on Monday when it begins play in the two-day Don Benbow Butler Spring Invitational at Highland Golf & Country Club in Indianapolis.
The Penguins are coming off a second-place performance at South Dakota State's Jackrabbit Invitational at Boulder Creek Golf Club in Boulder City, Nev., on March 9-10. YSU finished with a three-round total of 851 (284-286-281) to finish as the runner up behind host South Dakota State who carded an 847 (281-285-281). The Penguins earned their fourth top five team finish of the 2025-26 season. YSU's three-round team total of 851 is tied for the fourth-lowest 54-hole performance in program history.
Senior Ryan Sam was named the Under Armour Horizon League Men's Golfer of the Week on March 12 following his performance at the Jackrabbit Invitational. The Canfield, Ohio, native finished tied for second on the individual leaderboard with a career-best, six-under-par three-round score of 210 (70-67-73) to earn the best individual finish of his career. The senior fired a career-low, five-under-par round of 67 in the second session while finishing six shots back of the tournament medalist. Sam, who collected the first weekly Horizon League honor of his career, was one of four Penguins who finished in the top 15 individually at the Jackrabbit Invitational.
The tournament field at the Don Benbow Butler Spring Invitational will feature 11 other teams including Butler, Detroit Mercy, Evansville, Green Bay, Indian Hills, IU Indianapolis, Oakland, Purdue Fort Wayne, Robert Morris, SIUE and Southern Indiana. Ball State, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio State, and West Virginia will each have players competing as individuals.
Head Coach Tony Joy has announced that YSU's five-player lineup will feature Sam, Jordan Kish, Michael Porter, Rocco Turner and Josh Weiner. In addition, Jake Ryan will be competing as an individual for the Penguins.
The teams are slated to play 36 holes on Monday and 18 holes on Tuesday in the two-day, 54-hole event. Play is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. ET each day. The course will play approximately 6,551 yards and par is 70. Live scoring will be available via Scoreboard by Clippd through links posted on YSUsports.com.
Kish, Porter and Sam have competed in each of the eight tournaments that YSU has played during the 2025-26 season. Turner has participated in seven events this season, Ryan has competed in four tournaments and Weiner has played as an individual on two occasions.
The tournament is named in honor of the late Don Benbow, who was inducted into the Butler Athletics Hall of Fame for his contributions as a standout football student-athlete, golf and football coach, and his time at Butler as an athletics administrator.
For the latest news and updates throughout the spring season, follow @YSUMensGolf on X and Instagram.
