Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina men's golf returns to action this Thursday through Saturday, hosting the Sea Palms Invitational March 9-11 at the par-71, 6,664-yard Sea Palms Resort in St. Simons Island, Ga. Held for the first time during the COVID-19-altered 2020-21 season, WCU men's golf returns to partner with the Sea Palms Resort for the third consecutive year.
This year's event features 54-holes of stroke-play competition contested over three days. Tournament play opens on Thursday morning with tee times off both the front and back nine beginning at 7:10 a.m. Pairings for the first and second rounds will remain the same, though tee times will flip on day two. Saturday's final round will be set by tournament standings with tee times again off holes No. 1 and No. 10 beginning at 7:10 a.m.
Live scoring for the tournament is available online through GolfStat and
a link at CatamountSports.com.
In addition to the host Catamounts, the 20-team field includes golfers from Austin Peay, Augusta, Bellarmine, Belmont, Central Florida, Davidson, High Point, Jacksonville State, Marshall, Morehead State, Murray State, Radford, Richmond, Siena, USC Upstate, Weber State, Western Kentucky, Wright State, and Xavier.
This spring's 120-golfer field is the largest in the brief history of the tournament with both previous team champions –Jacksonville State (2021) and Wright State (2022) among the field. Jacksonville State edged Appalachian State to win the inaugural championship in March of 2021 with Wright State cruising to an eight-stroke victory over Radford last March.
Playing at a par-71, 6,664-yard layout, the Sea Palms Resort (www.SeaPalms.com) is located on St. Simons Island, the largest barrier island of the Golden Isles in coastal Georgia. The island is located between Savannah, Ga., and Jacksonville, Fla., just outside the historic city of Brunswick and just north of Jekyll Island.
Originally opened in 1967, the golf course was originally designed by George Cobb and renovated in October of 2019. The championship course is framed by live oaks and towering pine trees and is surrounded by the lagoons and salt marshes of the Golden Isles.
The Catamounts return to action for the first time since a sixth-place showing at the Mickey Mouse Intercollegiate, hosted by Bellarmine University at Disney's Palm Golf Course in Florida. Graduate transfer
Adam Hooker paced the squad in a tie for 13th and will play as the team's No. 1 seed this week. Hooker ranks 24th in the SoCon in scoring average at 73.00, just ahead of junior transfer
Pablo Hernandez in 25th at 73.25. Hernandez will play at the No. 2 position this week.
Rounding out WCU's scoring five rounded out by fifth-year senior
Louis Theys, senior
Magnus Pedersen, and redshirt freshman
Josh Lendach. Playing unattached as individuals for the Catamounts are senior
Quinton Metz and Canadian-born sophomore
Kiefer Bulau.
Complete recaps and results will be made available after each day's competition.
Keep track of everything related to Catamount men's golf and WCU Athletics through its social media outlets on Facebook (fb.com/catamountsports), Instagram (@wcu_catamounts), and Twitter (@catamounts, @CatamountMGolf).
2023 Sea Palms Invitational
March 8-11, 2023
Sea Palms Resort – St. Simons Island, Ga.
Course Information
Sea Palms Resort – St. Simons Island, Ga. – Par 71 – 6,664 yards
Schedule of Events
Wed., March 8 – Practice Round (tee times beginning at 7:30 am)
Thurs., March 9 – First Round – assigned tee times off No. 1 & No. 10 beginning at 7:10 am
Fri., March 10 – Second Round – assigned tee times off No. 1 & No. 10 beginning at 7:10 am
Sat., March 11 – Final Round – Tee times based on standings of No. 1 & No. 10 beginning at 7:10 am
Tournament Field – 20 teams, 120 golfers
Western Carolina (host) – Austin Peay, Augusta, Bellarmine, Belmont, Central Florida, Davidson, High Point, Jacksonville State, Marshall, Morehead State, Murray State, Radford, Richmond, Siena, USC Upstate, Weber State, Western Kentucky, Wright State, and Xavier
Individuals (20): Davidson (4), UCF (2), Western Carolina (2), Xavier (2), Augusta, Austin Peay, Bellarmine, Belmont, High Point, Marshall, Richmond, Siena, Western Kentucky, and Wright State
Live Scoring through GolfStat:
https://results.golfstat.com/public/leaderboards/gsnav.cfm?pg=team&tid=26300
First-Round Pairings / Start Times:
No. 1 – 7:10 am – Morehead State, Murray State, Marshall, Belmont
No. 1 – 8:05 am – Jacksonville State, Bellarmine, Xavier, Davidson
No. 1 – 9:00 am – Siena, Radford, Western Kentucky, Weber State
No. 10 – 7:10 am – WCU, UCF, Augusta, Wright State
No. 10 – 8:05 am – Individuals
No. 10 – 9:00 am – High Point, USC Upstate, Richmond, Austin Peay
Second-Round Pairings / Start Times:
No. 1 – 7:10 am – High Point, USC Upstate, Richmond, Austin Peay
No. 1 – 8:05 am – Individuals
No. 1 – 9:00 am – WCU, UCF, Augusta, Wright State
No. 10 – 7:10 am – Siena, Radford, Western Kentucky, Weber State
No. 10 – 8:05 am – Jacksonville State, Bellarmine, Xavier, Davidson
No. 10 – 9:00 am – Morehead State, Murray State, Marshall, Belmont
Final Round Pairings / Start Times:
No. 1 – 7:10 am – Team 9, Team 10, Team 11, Team 12
No. 1 – 8:05 am – Team 5, Team 6, Team 7, Team 8
No. 1 – 9:00 am – Team 1, Team 2, Team 3, Team 4
No. 10 – 7:10 am – Individuals
No. 10 – 8:05 am – Team 13, Team 14, Team 15, Team 16
No. 10 – 9:00 am – Team 17, Team 18, Team 19, Team 20
