The Penn State men’s golf team will conclude its regular season by hosting the 49th-annual Rutherford Invitational at the Penn State Blue Course, a par-71, 7,130-yard venue, this weekend, according to an April 17 announcement.
The event marks a significant tradition for the program. The tournament was renamed in 1983 as the Rutherford Intercollegiate to honor R.B. “Pop” Rutherford Sr., who organized Penn State’s first golf team in 1922 and coached until 1949. His son, R.B. Rutherford Jr., continued coaching from 1950-1956.
Penn State has historically performed well at this event, winning 31 of the previous 48 tournaments and securing nine victories in the last eleven years dating back to 2015. The Delaware Blue Hens ended Penn State’s six-year win streak last year. Nineteen individual champions have come from Penn State over the years; James Allen was most recent after winning a tiebreaker against teammate Patrick Sheehan in 2022.
This year’s field includes thirteen teams: Yale, Loyola Chicago, Binghamton, Long Island University, Towson University, St. John’s University, University of Rhode Island (URI), George Mason University, University of Connecticut (UConn), St. Thomas University, Bucknell University and defending champion Delaware join host Penn State as participants. The Nittany Lions are the only Big Ten representative.
Competition begins Saturday with two rounds played continuously starting between 7:30 and 9:36 a.m., using split tees on holes one and ten; Sunday’s final round also uses split tees beginning at 8 a.m.
Will Preston returns to the lineup for his third appearance this season after competing individually last month; he replaces Nick Werner in a group that includes Alex Creamean—who leads with a stroke average of 70.87 through twenty-three rounds—Jackson Saroney (72.70), Andres Barraza (73.17), and Tim Peters rounding out starters for this week’s event.
After wrapping up their home invitational this weekend, Penn State will travel west for the Big Ten Championships May 1-3 at Pumpkin Ridge Golf Club in North Plains.
