Waynesville, N.C. – Flirting with the top of the leaderboard during Sunday's opening round, Western Carolina men's golf sits amidst a three-way tie for sixth place after 18 of the scheduled 54 holes in the 2024 JT Poston Invitational, hosted by the Catamounts at the par-70, 6,720-yard Waynesville Inn and Golf Club – just the second venue to host WCU's fall tournament.
 
The Catamounts shot an opening-round 2-over par 282 to kick off their home event on its new course with a pair of golfers in a tie for 16th place as junior Ivan Ninkovic and sophomore Jace Butcher fired even-par rounds of 70.
 
With a lineup boasting the top two individuals, Lipscomb leads the 15-team field after Sunday's opening round after carding a 6-under par team round 274 to lead second-place Eastern Kentucky by four strokes at 2-under par 278. Coastal Carolina is third, five strokes off the pace at 279 with defending event champions Drexel (280) and James Madison – led by former Catamount ahead coach Carter Cheves – in fifth at 282.
 
Seven teams enter Monday's second-round action within seven strokes of the tournament lead with tee times off both the first and 10th tees beginning at 9 a.m. Live scoring through Leaderboard King is available through a link online at CatamountSports.com.
 
Ninkovic worked through a busy Sunday as he countered four bogeys and one double-bogey with six birdies to shoot his 70. The Pula, Croatia, product was 3-under par through 13 holes after carding his sixth birdie of the day. However, he slipped back to even with a bogey on the par-3, 210-yard 17th, and a double-bogey on his final hole, the par-5, 565-yard 18th.
 
Butcher was even on both the front and back nine, starting with a pair of birdies on the third and fourth holes before being relegated back to even with two bogeys. The Kennesaw, Ga., native quickly moved back to 1-under par with a third birdie on his second hole of the back nine where he remained until he bogeyed No. 18 to shoot even.
 
Junior transfer Callum Waugh sits in a tie with senior teammate Kiefer Bulau in a 25th-place gridlock at 1-over par 71. Waugh rallied back from a 4-over par start to the day that included a triple-bogey on his second hole of the day. But one bogey on the front left him turning to the back 2-over. Four birdies on his first six holes on the back nine moved him to 1-under. A triple bogey on No. 16 saw his score balloon to 3-over before charting his sixth birdie on No. 18 for the 1-over performance. Bulau was 1-under after the front nine with a pair of birdies. Three consecutive bogeys between holes No. 14 and 17 moved him to 2-over until a third birdie on No. 18 left him at 71.
 
Rounding out WCU's scoring five, freshman Chase Cline sits in a tie for 36th with an 18-hole score of 72. Even-par over the front nine holes, the Chapin, S.C., product was busy with the pencil on the back nine, countering three bogeys and one double with three birdies for the 2-over par round of 72.
 
Four Catamounts are entered in the field as individuals with sophomore Andrew Korytoski WCU's highest in the standings in a tie for 49th at 3-over par 79 with four birdies. Classmate Michael Bevins shot a 4-over par 74, carding an 8-over par front nine but four birdies on the back, while Dalton Payne posted his lone birdie of the round on the par-4 No. 1 to accompany six bogeys and 11 pars. Redshirt sophomore Josh Lendach sits 88th overall with a  first-round 80.
 
The Lipscomb duo of Alejandro Rodriguez and Minas Manias sit first and second, respectively, after carding rounds of 5-under par 65 and 4-under par 66. Rodriguez had a bogey-free round with 13 pars and five birdies. Manias had one blemish with a bogey on the par-5 11th but otherwise carded five birdies to trail his teammate by one stroke. JMU's Daniel Cheng is two strokes in arrears but on the podium after shooting 67 Sunday.
 
Action is scheduled to get underway with tee times beginning at 9 a.m. on Monday with a 9:30 a.m. shotgun start on tap for Tuesday's final championship round.
 
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T6 – Western Carolina – 282 (+2)
T16 – Ivan Ninkovic – 70 (E)
T16 – Jace Butcher – 70 (E)
T25 – Callum Waugh – 71 (+1)
T25 – Kiefer Bulau – 71 (+1)
T36 – Chase Cline – 72 (+2)
T49 – Andrew Korytoski (ind.) – 73 (+3)
T60 – Michael Bevins (ind.) – 74 (+4)
T71 – Dalton Payne (ind.) – 75 (+5)
88 – Josh Lendach (ind.) – 80 (+10)
 
2024 JT Poston Invitational – Team Standings:
1 – Lipscomb – 274 (-6)
2 – Eastern Kentucky – 278 (-2)
3 – Coastal Carolina – 279 (-1)
4 – Drexel – 280 (E)
5 – James Madison – 281 (+1)
6t – Western Carolina – 282 (+2)
6t – Kennesaw State – 282 (+2)
6t – Xavier – 282 (+2)
9t – Francis Marion – 287 (+7)
9t – Georgia State – 287 (+7)
11 – Georgia Southern – 288 (+8)
12 – UT-Rio Grande Valley – 291 (+11)
13 – Wofford – 292 (+12)
14 – Mercer – 295 (+15)
15 – Charleston Southern – 296 (+16)