Cullowhee, N.C. –
Tim Eckberg and the Western Carolina men's golf team opens their 2024-25 season this weekend, traveling to the Grand Strand for the Myrtle Beach Golf Trips Intercollegiate, hosted by Coastal Carolina at the par-72, 7,578-yard Grande Dunes Golf Resort Club.
Action got under way on Sunday, Sept. 8, morning with 18 scheduled holes and continues with single rounds on Monday and Tuesday. Live scoring through GolfStat is available online through a link on CatamountSports.com
In addition to the Catamounts and host Chanticleers, the 14-team field includes Appalachian State, Campbell, East Carolina, Elon, Florida Atlantic, Jacksonville, James Madison, Maryland, Old Dominion, Santa Clara, Texas El Paso, and Texas State.
WCU's scoring five is led by its top returning scorer from last season in junior
Ivan Ninkovic, who averaged 72.52 last season with the third-best stroke average on the team. He's flanked by sophomore
Jace Butcher who finished last season on the Southern Conference's All-Freshman team with a 74.12 scoring average.
Chapin, S.C., freshman
Chase Cline makes his collegiate debut as WCU's third seed with junior transfer
Callum Waugh as WCU's No. 4. Waugh was a teammate of Ninkovic at Lindsey Wilson College where he was a two-time NAIA All-America selection. Rounding out the scoring five is sophomore
Andrew Korytoski. WCU senior
Kiefer Bulau is playing unattached as an individual.
"After a great qualifying series, the guys are ready to kick off this season," said Eckberg. "It's an exciting team this year. We are young, but we are talented and have a team full of guys that aren't afraid to go low when they get going. I feel like it's going to be fun!"
Action gets underway with tee times on Sunday morning. WCU is matched with golfers from Maryland and a group of individuals opening on the front nine.
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).
