Greensboro, Ga. – Western Carolina junior Ivan Ninkovic carded an opening-round 3-under par 69 on a hot and sun-splashed Easter Sunday in a tie for third place individually as he helped guide the Catamounts to fourth overall after 18 of the scheduled 54 holes in the 2025 Southern Conference Men's Golf Championship being held at the par-72, 7,231-yard The Oconee Course at the Reynolds Lake Oconee.
 
Ninkovic was joined under par by freshman teammate Chase Cline on Sunday as the Catamount lineup combined to post a 1-under par 287, just two strokes off the tournament's team podium.
 
Opening on the back nine, Ninkovic carded 13 total pars with four birdies and one bogey on Sunday afternoon. The Pula, Croatia, product birdied his first hole of the day on the par-5, 580-yard 10th and played the next six holes at 1-under par by carding five-straight pars. He moved to 2-under par for the day with another par-5 birdie on the par-5, 542-yard 17th, but made the turn back at 1-under after his lone blemish of the day with a bogey on the par-4 No. 18.
 
On the front nine, Ninkovic quickly moved back to 2-under par with a third birdie, again followed by five consecutive pars before his fourth birdie moved him to 3-under par for the day. Ninkovic shot par on the final two holes for the opening-day 69.
 
Despite matching Ninkovic with a birdie on the par-5 10th, Cline had a much busier route to his 1-under par 71 in the opening round. The freshman from Chapin, S.C., bounced back from a pair of bogeys and a double bogey among his first five holes that had him 4-over par six holes deep into his opening round. The frosh countered with consecutive birdies on holes No. 16 and 16 to make the turn to the front at 2-over par.
 
Two birdies sandwiched around a third bogey left Cline 1-over par with six holes remaining. He again went back-to-back with birdies on the sixth and seventh to move to 1-under, capping his day with two straight pars.
 
WCU's Ninkovic and Cline lead the tournament field in par-5 scoring at 4.00 (-4), helping guide the Catamounts to the top of the par-5 scoring leaderboard at 4.35 (-13). WCU also ranks third overall with 18 birdies as a team.
 
Junior transfer Callum Waugh carded a pair of birdies against a bogey and double bogey on the back nine to turn for the clubhouse at 1-over par on Sunday. His front nine was much quieter, countering a bogey with two more birdies to shoot 1-under on the front nine and even par for the day.
 
Rounding out WCU's scoring five are sophomores Jace Butcher and Andrew Korytoski, tied for 33rd overall at 3-over par 75. Butcher carded a pair of birdies in response to three bogeys and one double-bogey on the par-4 18th. Korytoski turned to the front nine at 4-over par with four bogeys on his opening nine holes. He settled on the out nine, posting six consecutive pars before carding an eagle on the par-5, 517-yard seventh. He rode that momentum into a birdie on No. 8 before finishing his day with a double bogey on No. 9 for the 3-over par round.
 
Korytoski was one of just four golfers to card an eagle in Sunday's opening 18 holes.
   
First-round leader UNCG is three strokes clear of second-place ETSU after 18 holes as the Spartans shot 11-under par 277 on Sunday while the Buccaneers carded an eight-under par 280. Chattanooga is eight strokes off the lead and five in arrears of second place with a first-round score of 3-under par 285. Western Carolina's 1-under par 287 has the Catamounts in fourth, a stroke ahead of the two-way tie for fifth between Mercer and Furman at even-par 288.
 
Samford is seventh after Sunday's first round with a score of 1-over par 289 – just four strokes off the podium in the tight race, with Wofford rounding out the eight-team field with an opening-round score of 9-over par 297.
 
Chattanooga's Garrett Engle fired an opening round 6-under par 66 to sit atop the individual leaderboard, carrying a two-stroke advantage over UNCG freshman Jake Lewis, who finished at 4-under par 68. Ninkovic is tied with ETSU's Kristian Bressum and Yannick Malik, Cole Hanson from Mercer, and UNCG's Colin Dutton, three strokes off the pace at 3-under par 69.
 
Action continues with round two on Monday morning, beginning with tee times off both the front and back nine at 9 a.m. Live scoring through the Scoreboard app, powered by Clippd, is available online at CatamountSports.com or SoConSports.com.
 
 
2025 Southern Conference Men's Golf Championship
Reynolds Lake Oconee – Greensboro, Ga. – Par 72, 7,231 yds
1 – UNCG – 277 (-11)
2 – ETSU – 280 (-8)
3 – Chattanooga – 285 (-3)
4 – Western Carolina – 287 (-1)
T5 – Mercer – 288 (E)
T5 – Furman – 288 (E)
7 – Samford – 289 (+1)
8 – Wofford – 297 (+9)
 
4 – Western Carolina – 287 (-1)
T3 – Ivan Ninkovic – 69 (-3)
T13 – Chase Cline – 71 (-1)
T17 – Callum Waugh – 72 (E)
T33 – Jace Butcher – 75 (+3)
T33 – Andrew Korytoski – 75 (+3)