UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. – The Saginaw Valley State University men's golf team opens the 2021 season, hosting the SVSU Spring Invite Saturday and Sunday at Kearney Hill in Lexington, Ky.

The Cardinals, under first-year Head Coach Daniel Allen, return after having not competed since October 20, 2019, when the team finished fourth at the Davenport Panther Invitational.

Allen will look to Gunnar Stein and Jared Lyons to lead the Cardinals as seniors this season.

"Both have been working very hard and have high expectations of themselves individually to be the best players in the GLIAC," Allen said.

The season will include a shortened schedule, with just three events to help the Cardinals prepare for the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Championship.

"It's been a long time since our athletes have had the opportunity to compete in tournaments," Allen said. "We do our best to keep it competitive amongst the team, but for golf, there is nothing that can simulate playing different courses in tournaments. We are excited and grateful to be back competing again."

Following this weekend's event, the Cardinals will return to Lexington to play the Old Blue Course for the Findlay Invite March 29-30. SVSU will be at the Walsh Cavalier Classic April 5-6 in Columbus, Ohio to close out the regular season.

The GLIAC Championship is scheduled for April 16-18 at Gull Lake in Augusta, Mich.

"Our expectations are the same every year," Allen said. "Win the GLIAC Championship and compete in the postseason. The GLIAC is a great conference with every team being a tough competitive program, so our work is cut out for us to meet our expectations. We want to set the bar high and we have been working very hard as a program to meet our expectations."