Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina men's golf returns to the mountains of western North Carolina to host the first of its two events this season, beginning with the 2024 JT Poston Invitational, WCU's annual fall home tournament. The three-day, 54-hole championship event opens on Sunday, Sept. 15, and includes 18-hole rounds through Tuesday, Sept. 17.
 
For the first time since 2007 – minus the COVID-altered 2020-21 season when WCU hosted at the Cateechee  Golf Club in Hartwell, Ga. – this year's fall tournament will be contested somewhere other than the beautiful Country Club of Sapphire Valley. This year marks the event debut at the renovated, redesigned, and reconfigured Waynesville Inn and Golf Club (WIGC) in the "Gateway to the Smoky Mountains," Waynesville, N.C.
 
"It was hard to say goodbye to Sapphire Valley. That club and its membership have meant so much to this program and our home event over the past 20 years. But we understood them wanting to take a step back as golf continues to boom on the mountain," said WCU head coach Tim Eckberg about the movement of its traditional home event in the fall but with excitement for the prospects of the event's new home.

With its origins as the WCU Intercollegiate in 2004 and 2007 before being rebranded the Hummingbird Intercollegiate in 2008, the fall tournament for the Catamounts took its current name honoring one of its best-known alum – two-time PGA TOUR event winner, JT Poston – in 2019.
  
Playing at par 70 and a 6,720 for this week's tournament, the historic course at the Waynesville Inn and Golf Club dates back to 1926 with some of the original layouts created by famed golf course designer Donald Ross. What was once three, nine-hole courses to comprise a 27-hole layout has been reworked into an 18-hole Championship course, along with a full practice facility that reopened in July 2023.
 
Another tremendous draw for this tournament in Waynesville is the ability for all of the teams to stay on the property through the Inn's variety of lodging accommodations.
 
"Getting the chance to move the event to our new home, the Waynesville Inn and Golf Club, is a dream. The ownership, staff, and membership have been so welcoming to our program. Having the ability to say 'thank you' to all of them, and showcase this amazing property on the national stage is very exciting," Eckberg said about bringing WCU's tournament to Haywood County.
 
He added, "We're also using the reach of this event to do something very unique in college golf. Working closely with the owners, Grey Raines and David Tart, we're using this event to support their newly created WIGC Charitable Foundation, one that is very dear to both the tournament's namesake, JT Poston, and me. This foundation is designed to support junior golf and grow future leaders in western North Carolina."
 
The course in Waynesville is no stranger to Western Carolina golf as the venue hosted the Catamount women's team and the Great Smokies Intercollegiate for many years in its previous configuration. That event ballooned to a 24-team field at its height under former women's coach and WCU Director of Golf Steve Lott.
 
A combined 15 teams converge on Waynesville for the early-fall tournament as the bright colors of the season start to line the course. The week begins with a practice round and a Collegiate-Am event on Saturday, Sept. 14, followed by 18 holes of championship golf each day starting on Sunday, Sept. 15. Both a tournament and individual champion will be crowned and awarded one of the most unique trophies in collegiate golf that accompanies the title – a purple mailbox that likens to Poston's Tour nickname, "The Postman."
 
Competitive action opens on Sunday at 9 a.m. with set tee times off both the front and back nine with the same format to be used on Monday with the order to be determined by event standing. Tuesday's final round will begin at 9:30 a.m. with a shotgun start.
 
The tournament is open and free to the public, Sunday through Tuesday, though typical and respectful golf attire is requested. Also on Sunday, WCU will have a "Catamount Central" on location at the course on hole No. 18 from 2 – 3:30 p.m. Live scoring available through Leaderboard King through its college dashboard.
 
In addition to the Catamounts, the field includes golfers from Charleston Southern, Coastal Carolina, Drexel, Eastern Kentucky, Francis Marion, James Madison, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, Kennesaw State, Lipscomb, Mercer, UT Rio Grande Valley, Wofford, and Xavier.
 
A combined 14 of the 15 schools make a return to the JT Poston Invitational with Texas-Rio Grande Valley making its first appearance in the western North Carolina tournament. The field also features six former event team champions in Western Carolina (2007, 2016); inaugural winner, Charleston Southern (2004); Coastal Carolina (2022);  Georgia Southern (2018, 2019), Wofford (2013, 2015), and last year's winner Drexel, which won in its first trip to the Poston.
 
Two former Catamount head coaches bring their current schools back to the mountains vying for both the individual and team championships. Carter Cheves, who led WCU from 2015 through 2018,  is in his fifth season at James Madison, earning an extension to his contract during the summer. His predecessor, Bryant Odom, led the Catamounts from 2013 through 2015 and is in his sixth season at Kennesaw State.
 
Western Carolina enters its home event on the heels of a 12th-place finish at the season-opening Myrtle Beach Golf Trips Intercollegiate in South Carolina. Newcomers freshman Chase Cline and junior transfer Callum Waugh led the team as WCU's top two finishers in their debut events in the Purple & Gold.
 
All nine Catamount men's golfers on the roster are expected to compete in their home tournament. Paired with golfers from Francis Marion, Kennesaw State, and James Madison, WCU's scoring five opens on the front nine in the final wave beginning at 10:06 a.m. The four Catamount individuals vying for medalist honors are also going off the front on Sunday beginning at 9:22 a.m.
 
The event opens with Saturday's practice rounds followed by the Collegiate-Am in the afternoon before the first competitive round tees off at 9 a.m. on Sunday.
 
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).