Myrtle Beach, S.C. – Junior Ivan Ninkovic carded an opening-round even-par 72 on Sunday to lead Western Carolina men's golf to ninth-place after 18 of the scheduled 54 holes in the 2024-25 season-opening Myrtle Beach Golf Trips Intercollegiate at the par-72, 7,578-yard Grande Dunes Golf Resort Club.
 
The second round opens on Monday morning with set tee times off the first and 10th tee. Paired with golfers from Maryland and Texas State, WCU's scoring five opens on the front nine beginning at 8 a.m. Live scoring through GolfStat is available through a link at CatamountSports.com.
 
Ninkovic carded 11 pars in Sunday's opening 18 holes, countering two bogies and one double-bogey with four birdies including three on the front nine to make the turn at 1-under par. He then carded five-consecutive pars to open the back nine with a double-bogey on the par-4 15th, recovering to shoot even with a birdie on the par-5, 578-yard 17th.
 
WCU newcomers Chase Cline and Callum Waugh are both tied 39th after the first round with matching scores of 1-over par 73. Waugh charted four birdies with Cline finishing with three in his first collegiate round. Rounding out WCU's scoring five are Jace Butcher in a tie for 49th at 2-over par 74 and Andrew Korytoski who is tied for 74th overall with a 5-over par 77.
 
Playing unattached as an individual, Kiefer Bulau joined Cline and Waugh in the gridlock that is the 39th-place tie at 1-over par, 73. The Canadian-born striker recorded 15 pars, tied for the most in the field after 18 holes.
 
Santa Clara leads the 14-team field by a stroke over a two-way tie for the runner-up position between host Coastal Carolina and Campbell. Santa Clara shot an opening round team score of 9-under par 279 with the Chanticleers and Fighting Camels a stroke in arrears at 8-under par 280. Rounding out the top five teams are Elon (282) in fourth and Texas El Paso (285).
 
Elon's Jack Wieler paces the individual field after shooting 6-under par 66 on Sunday. He has a one-strike edge over J.P. Odland of Santa Clara (67)
 
Action from Myrtle Beach continues Monday morning with tee times off the front and back nine.
 
 
9 – Western Carolina – 292 (+4)
T27 – Ivan Ninkovic – 72 (E)
T39 – Chase Cline – 73 (+1)
T39 – Callum Waugh – 73 (+1)
T49 – Jace Butcher – 74 (+2)
T74 – Andrew Korytoski – 77 (+5)