Cullowhee, N.C. – For a second straight season, collegiate men's golf descends upon western North Carolina and the "Gateway to the Smokies," Waynesville, as a combined 15 teams and 15 individuals compete for one of the most unique trophies in intercollegiate athletics at the 2025 JT Poston Invitational. The three-day, 54-hole tournament is again hosted at the Waynesville Inn & Golf Club, a Hilton property.
 
WCU's annual fall home tournament again plays out 54 holes with a par-70, 6,720-yard layout. Playing in threesomes, action tees off on Sunday, Sept. 14, and continues Monday, Sept. 15, and Tuesday, Sept. 16, with a single 18-hole round each day, with 9 a.m. tee times off the front and back nine.
 
The tournament is open and free to the public, Sunday through Tuesday, though typical golf attire and respectful behavior are requested and expected. Live scoring of each round through Leaderboard King and its college dashboard is available online through links on CatamountSports.com.
 
In addition to the event host Catamounts, the 15-team field includes golfers from Abilene Christian, Drexel, Elon, Francis Marion, Jacksonville, James Madison, Kennesaw State, Lipscomb, Morehead State, Southern Mississippi, UT-Rio Grande Valley, Virginia Tech, Wofford, and Xavier.
 
Nine of the teams return after competing in the event a season ago. Each school represented in this year's field has played in WCU's fall tournament either in Sapphire or Waynesville, except Southern Miss and Virginia Tech. Lipscomb is the defending champion of last year's first event at the Waynesville Inn, leading start to finish and managing to fend off Kennesaw State over a rain-soaked final round to win by eight strokes. WCU finished fourth, climbing two spots on the final today.
 
With its origins as the WCU Intercollegiate in 2004 and 2007 before being rebranded the Hummingbird Intercollegiate in 2008 at the Country Club of Sapphire Valley, the fall tournament for the Catamounts took its current name in 2019, honoring one of its best-known program alumni, three-time PGA TOUR event winner and the program's all-time leading scorer, JT Poston. The team and individual trophy liken to Poston's TOUR nickname, "The Postman," and feature purple mailboxes mounted on a pedestal.
   
It is the second consecutive season that the historic course at the Waynesville Inn and Golf Club hosts the WCU men's tournament. The venue dates to 1926, with some of the original layouts created by famed golf course designer Donald Ross. What was once three, nine-hole courses to comprise a 27-hole layout has been reworked into an 18-hole Championship course, along with a full practice facility that reopened in July 2023.
 
Another special draw for WCU's tournament in Waynesville is the ability for all of the teams to stay on the property through the Inn's variety of lodging accommodations.
 
"Last year was a tremendous success in moving our fall event to our new home, the Waynesville Inn and Golf Club. The ownership, staff, and membership have been so welcoming to our program. Having the ability to say, 'thank you' to all of them, and showcase this amazing property on the national stage, is very exciting," Eckberg said about returning WCU's tournament to Haywood County.
 
This season's event will again work to support the WIGC Charitable Foundation, an organization designed to support junior golf and grow future leaders within western North Carolina. Tournament namesake, Poston, and venue owners Grey Raines and David Tart are each involved with the Foundation.
 
The course in Waynesville is no stranger to Western Carolina golf as the venue hosted the Catamount women's team and the Great Smokies Intercollegiate for many years in its previous configuration. That event ballooned to a 24-team field at its height under former women's coach and WCU Director of Golf Steve Lott.
 
Two former Catamount head coaches again bring their current schools back to the mountains to vie for both the individual and team championships. Carter Cheves, who led WCU from 2015 through 2018,  is in his sixth season at James Madison as the Purple & Gold-clad Dukes return to the mountains. His predecessor, Bryant Odom, led the Catamounts from 2013 through 2015 and is in his seventh year at Kennesaw State. Those three programs – James Madison, Kennesaw State, and WCU – are paired together for Sunday's first round and will tee off the front nine beginning at 9 a.m. with nine-minute increments.
             
Five individuals, in addition to the Catamount scoring five, are set to tee off at the Waynesville Inn & Golf Club, as Western Carolina enters 10 golfers into this year's field.
 
Fresh off a podium finish at the season-opening Golfweek Fall Challenge and after earning the first Southern Conference Men's Golfer of the Week accolades, redshirt sophomore transfer Tyler Jones guides the Catamounts into Sunday's opening round as the No. 1 seed. Senior Ivan Ninkovic, who came home in a tie for seventh place a season ago, flanks Jones as the No. 2 seed with junior Jace Butcher competing as the No. 3. Junior Andrew Korytoski is again slated for the fourth flight, with last week's individual competitor, Josh Lendach, moving into the scoring team five.
 
A trio of freshmen newcomers joins WCU returners Michael Bevins and Dalton Payne to compete for the medalist honors unattached as individuals. Freshman Charlie Coe from Morrisville, N.C., made his collegiate debut last week, with classmates Hayden Magnussen (Greensboro, N.C.) and Connor Williams (Clemmons, N.C.) both seeing their first collegiate action at the home event.
 
The event opens with Saturday's practice rounds followed by the Collegiate-Am in the afternoon, before the first competitive round tees off at 9 a.m. on Sunday.
 
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).
 

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Venue: Waynesville Inn & Golf Club
Course Information: Par-70, 6,720 yards
Information: It's the second year that WCU has held the JT Poston Invitational at the Waynesville Inn and Golf Club after hosting at the beautiful Country Club of Sapphire Valley from 2004 through 2023. Lipscomb returns as the defending champion, earning an eight-stroke victory over Kennesaw State last year, 829-to-837.
 
Event Schedule:
Saturday, Sept. 13 – 1 pm – Collegiate / Am event
Sunday, Sept. 14 – 9 am – First Round Tee Times off No. 1 and No. 10
Monday, Sept. 15 – 9 am – Second Round Tee Times off No. 1 and No. 10
Tuesday, Sept. 16 – 9 am – Final Round Tee Times off No. 1 and No. 10
 
Participating Teams (15):
Western Carolina, Abilene Christian, Drexel, Elon, Francis Marion, Jacksonville, James Madison, Kennesaw State, Lipscomb, Morehead State, Southern Mississippi, UT-Rio Grande Valley, Virginia Tech, Wofford, and Xavier.
 
Live Stats through Leaderboard King: https://catamounts.leaderboardking.com/leaderboards/6045/layout_ncaa?game_id=12648