Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina men's golf opens play in its penultimate event of the regular season this weekend, traveling to State College, Pa., for the 48th Annual Rutherford Intercollegiate, hosted by Penn State on the par-71, 7,130-yard Blue Course at its home venue.
The three-round, 54-hole tournament is scheduled for play over two days beginning with 36 continuous play with tee times beginning at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday, April 12, and concluding with 8 a.m. tee times on Sunday, April 13. Weather could be a factor this weekend as cooler temperatures and rain showers leading into the weekend are among the forecast. Penn State's home tournament is named in honor of R.B. "Pop" Rutherford, Sr., known as the "father of Penn State golf"
Live scoring through the Scoreboard app, powered by Clippd, is available online through
links at CatamountSports.com.
In addition to the Catamounts (176) and host Nittany Lions (137), the 12-team field includes golfers from Binghamton (272), Bucknell (258), Connecticut (150), Delaware (158), Long Island (211), Longwood (147), Oakland (201), Rhode Island (146), St. Bonaventure (280), and Towson (253).
Western Carolina has six entries into the field including the scoring five and one individual. Junior
Ivan Ninkovic leads the Catamount lineup into action this week, most recently pacing the squad at The Hootie at Bulls Bay last time out. Ninkovic ranks 25th in the Southern Conference with a seasonal scoring average of 73.96. He is flanked by freshman teammate
Chase Cline, 13th in the SoCon in stroke average at 72.83 – the second-best freshman ranking in the league.
Sophomore
Jace Butcher (73.46) opens play as WCU's No. 3 seed, followed by classmate
Andrew Korytoski (76.19) and senior
Kiefer Bulau (74.90) rounding out the scoring five. Sophomore
Michael Bevins (76.82) will compete unattached as an individual.
Paired with golfers from Oakland University and the University of Rhode Island, WCU's scoring five hits the course off the No. 1 tee box beginning at 7:30 a.m. on Saturday morning for the first of two rounds. Bevins likewise tees off on the front nine at 8:15 a.m., paired with a golfer from Rhode Island and host Penn State.
Following play this weekend, the Catamounts turn their attention to a Southern Conference championship as teams again converge on the Reynolds Lake Oconee in Greensboro, Ga., for the 2025 SoCon Men's Golf Championship. The winning team and top individual if not on the championship squad will garner the league's automatic berth in the NCAA postseason.
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).
