Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina men's golf returns to action on Monday and Tuesday at the Gulf Coast Collegiate hosted by the University of New Orleans at the picturesque English Turn Golf and Country Club.
The 54-hole tournament opens on Monday, Feb. 24, with 36-holes of continuous play with an 9 a.m. ET / 8 a.m. CT shotgun start. The third round is scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 25, with another 9 a.m. ET / 8 a.m. CT shotgun start. The tournament will award a team champion and individual medalist, as well as a long-drive winner.
In addition to the Catamounts and host New Orleans, the 17-team field includes golfers from Arkansas Pine Bluff, Central Arkansas, Delta State, East Texas A&M, Lindenwood, UL-Monroe, Loyola, Murray State, Nicholls State, Prairie View A&M, Samford, Stephen F. Austin, Southeastern Louisiana, UT-Martin, and Weatherford College.
Paired with golfers from Central Arkansas, UL Monroe, and New Orleans, the Catamount scoring five opens the tournament between holes No. 1 and No. 4 on the front nine.
Coming off a career-best runner-up finish at the Los Vaqueros Intercollegiate that landed him Southern Conference Men's Golfer of the Week honors, true freshman
Chase Cline leads the Catamount side into tournament action. Cline leads WCU – and ranks 13th in the SoCon and is the second-highest ranked freshman – with a scoring average of 72.73 over 15 rounds.
Cline is flanked by junior
Ivan Ninkovic as the No. 2 seed with sophomore
Jace Butcher playing as the third seed. Butcher (74.13) ranks just ahead of Ninkovic (74.40) in scoring average through the first 15 rounds of the season. Sophomore
Andrew Korytoski (76.20) is slotted in as WCU's fourth seed with junior transfer
Callum Waugh making his spring debut this week. Waugh has a scoring average of 73.17 through 12 seasonal rounds for the Purple & Gold, second on the team in scoring at 73.17.
Canadian-born senior
Kiefer Bulau will compete for the medalist honors unattached as an individual.
The Gulf Coast Collegiate is the second of six spring events that culminates with the annual Southern Conference Men's Golf Championship April 20-22.
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).
