ATLANTA – A season that started with four seniors and so much promise unfortunately came to an abrupt end during a practice round in Statesboro, Ga., as word came out that the season for not just the Panthers, but the sports world was coming to a halt.

Head coach Chad Wilson welcomed back three seniors from last year's squad and welcomed graduate transfer Ashton Poole into the Panther Family, while also adding several other newcomers that were expected to add major depth to the line-up.

"We were excited going into the year," Wilson said. "We knew we had some real talent and with the addition of our new practice facility at the Bobby Jones Golf Course, we planned to use our experience and facility to get back to NCAA Regional play."

Starting the year in Arizona, the Panthers shot a final round 275 at the GSU-hosted Maui Jim Intercollegiate as Egill Gunnarsson and David Li each shot 67 in the final round, while Poole added a 68. The 275 score tied for the seventh-lowest in program history and was hopefully the start of big things to come.

"We left Arizona with some confidence after that final round, however, we seemed to struggle putting three rounds together in one tournament for most of the fall," Wilson said. "I thought that would change in the spring and we were starting to see it."

After a trip to the Marquette Intercollegiate where Poole tied for seventh and shot his fifth-straight round in the 60's, the Panthers returned home for the Autotrader Collegiate Classic, a staple on the schedule for the last nine years.

Poole opened play with a 66, but he too succumbed to the same pressure the team had of being able to put together three straight solid rounds of play. Georgia State concluded the fall at the White Sands Intercollegiate in The Bahamas and even with a disappointing result, the improvement in the fall gave Wilson confidence heading into the spring.

Unfortunately, the spring would consist of just four rounds before things came to a halt. Rain cancelled the second and third rounds of the Dorado Beach Classic leaving the Panthers with just one round played in Puerto Rico.

Two weeks later, the Panthers competed hard at the Tiger Invitational presented by Jason Dufner as Josh Edgar finished tied for 14^th, shooting a final round 69. A week later he would wonder if that would be his final collegiate round.

While in Statesboro for the Schenkel Invitational hosted by rival Georgia Southern, the wheels came off the proverbial golf cart.

"We first got a little concerned when the Sun Belt Conference cancelled the basketball tournaments, but we were thinking, we play outdoors, maybe it won't affect golf," Wilson said. 

"It was the craziest thing I have ever seen. Team after team kept walking off the course, at one point I thought it was just going to be us and Southern dueling it out in a match for bragging rights, but all kidding aside it was confusing and surreal at the same time. Mississippi State, Memphis, Southern, you could tell as team's coaches were getting the news from their respective athletics departments to pack it up and head home. I have never been a part of something like this before".

So, on a fairway in South Georgia, the 2019-20 Georgia State men's golf season came to an end. No Sun Belt Conference Tournament, no shot at returning to an NCAA Regional or the eluded sixth chance to play for an NCAA Championship for the Panthers.

With news that spring student-athletes will be able to return for another senior season, along with three newcomers Wilson has already signed, he's optimistic that next year could be a great one for the Panthers.

"I really like the direction our team was moving in at the beginning of March and I think by the time we reached Mystic Creek for the Sun Belt Tournament, we would have been a team in contention for the title," Wilson said. "We will never know that now, but what I do know is that when we tee it up again, we will never take that opportunity for granted again."

Hopefully for the Panthers that will mean an early-September trip back out to Arizona where maybe another – or even three – record setting numbers can get the 2020-21 season off to a great start and momentum that lasts all season long.