Men's Golf 9/21/2025 10:40:00 PM

98 golfers set to take part in two-day Roger Merb Invitational Monday, Tuesday

Overall, the Roger Merb Invitational proves to be one of the most highly-anticipated tournaments every year on the fall schedule.

Need proof?

A total of nine teams and 98 golfers will take to the famed Elks Country Club golf course Monday and Tuesday as Dave Hopkins' men's golf program plays host to the annual 36-hole event, which will take place in McDermott.

That total is up 15 golfers from last year's version of the RMI, which saw 83 golfers take part in the event.

The yearly tournament honors Merb, who coached Shawnee State's men's golf program from the inception of the program from the Spring 1989 season to the 2015-16 seasons, and the eight NAIA National Qualifiers that the standout coach produced over his men's golf coaching career.

Overall, Merb coached Dave Augustin -- the NAIA District 22 Player of the Year and the program's first NAIA National Qualifier in 1992, 1992 Mid-Ohio Conference Player of the Year Doug Joseph, 1995 Mid-Ohio Conference Player of the Year and two-time NAIA Qualifier Lanny Rice, 2004 American Mideast Conference Player of the Year and NAIA Qualifier Matt DeHart, and Josh Zornes, who was named as the Mid-South Conference's Male Athlete of the Year in Merb's final season during the 2015-16 campaign.

Additionally, Merb, who won 1997 Mid-Ohio Conference Coach of the Year honors, helped guide the Bears to their first conference championship as a men's golf program that season -- with Rice, Shawnee State Hall of Famers Tony Brown and Bryan Sturgell, and Scott Fleisher and Ryan Groff all contributing as scoring hands in what ultimately ended up being an 11th-place finish nationally for SSU in the 1997 NAIA National Championship Tournament. Brown, who led the Bears with a 13th place finish, was named as an NAIA All-American that year for his efforts.

Along with Shawnee State's run during the 1997 season, the Bears finished as a conference or district runner-up six additional times (1992, 1995, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2004) in what ended up being a legendary career for one of Shawnee State's very best to grace the athletic department.

The Field

Nine different universities will be competing in the event, as along with Shawnee State, Georgetown, Hocking College, Kentucky Christian, Mount Vernon Nazarene, Ohio Christian, Ohio Dominican, Rio Grande and West Virginia Tech will all be competing in the tournament.

Shawnee State's lineup is as follows:

Shawnee State (A):