Villanova, Pa. – Villanova golf begins its spring season this weekend at the Martin Downs Collegiate, hosted by UNCG and Martin Downs Golf Club in Palm City, Florida.
 
The tournament will be a 54-hole event played over three days, from Friday, Feb. 14 – Sunday Feb. 16.
 
This weekend will be the first of four tournaments prior to the BIG EAST Tournament in the first week of May.
 
"We're excited to get the spring season started," assistant coach Pat Aylward said. "We had a good weekend of practice in Savannah and the guys are ready for this tournament."
 
This will be the program's second consecutive year making the trip to south Florida, so the course will bring familiar terrain for a few of the starters this time around.
 
Villanova will play a starting lineup of Noah Peck, Matt Minerva, Max Siegfried, Jack O'Hara and Reb Banas. Danny Dougherty will play as an individual.
 
One player to watch this weekend will be Max Siegfried, making his first start at Villanova after transferring from Virginia and joining the team this winter. By getting the nod for his first start, the coaching staff believes the redshirt junior will be able to contribute right away.
 
The Martin Downs Collegiate is being held at Martin Downs Golf Club's Osprey Creek Course. Osprey Creek will play as a par-71, 6,929-yard course.
 
This year's field features largely northern and cold-weather schools retreating to Florida to find some warm weather. The field consists of: App State, Bucknell, Holy Cross, Drexel, Elon, JMU, Seton Hall, Lehigh, Old Dominion, Purdue Fort Wayne, Samford and South Dakota in addition to Villanova and the host, UNCG.
 
Villanova has been paired with Drexel and Seton Hall in the opening round, scheduled to begin at 7:30 a.m. off the 10^th tee.
 
"We got a great first round pairing with conference rival Seton Hall and city foe Drexel," Coach Aylward said. "The team is really looking forward to competing."