Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina freshman Pierre Viallaneix was today named the Southern Conference Men's Golfer of the Week. The Apopka, Fla., product led the Catamounts to a ninth-place team finish at the J.T. Poston Invitational, finishing tied for 13th overall for a career-best individual finish.
Weekly selections are made and announced by the SoCon office from nominations submitted by the media relations staff of each member institution. This is the first year that the conference has given awards in the fall portion of the season schedule.
Viallaneix is the seventh WCU men's golfer to claim the weekly award from the Southern Conference since the award's inception in 2001. It's the second-consecutive season that WCU has seen a first-year striker collect weekly plaudits from the conference office as last spring Louis Theys was selected as the league's top weekly player on March 20.
All told, WCU ranks sixth in the SoCon with 13 weekly honors with this week's honor representing the first in the career of Viallaneix.
Viallaneix turned in three rounds of even-par or better at the par-71, 6,767-yard Country Club of Sapphire Valley including a career-low round of 4-under par 67 to open tournament play at WCU's home event. He followed it up with an even-par round of 71 in the second round which was halted due to rain and darkness on Monday before being completed Tuesday morning. The first-year striker finished strong with a second round in the 60s, shooting 69 over the final 18 holes.
Combined, his three-round score of 207 ranks tied for the 10th-best, 54-hole score in program history, just seven strokes off the school record. Viallaneix carded a team-best 11 birdies at the J.T. Poston Invitational, named for one of WCU's most famous men's golf alum and current PGA Tour professional. Villaneix added an eagle in just his second collegiate tournament for the youthful Catamount side.
Western Carolina returns to action Oct. 14-15 at the Bubba Barnett Intercollegiate, hosted by Arkansas State at the Ridgepointe Country Club in Jonesboro, Ark.
