Athens, Ga. – Western Carolina junior Jace Butcher was among a tie for the individual lead halfway through Monday's 36-hole Southern Intercollegiate, shooting 2-under par 70 in the day's opening round. The native Georgian then managed the elements and overcame a trio of bogeys near the midpoint of his second 18 holes, rallying to card his eighth birdie of the day to return to even-par through 32 holes of competition.
 
Butcher then scored par on his remaining four holes at the par-72, 6,917-yard Athens Country Club, even improving upon the par-4 15th that he had bogeyed earlier in the day to claim a two-stroke victory over Georgia's Matt Moloney (70-74=144) and the field. Butcher celebrated his first collegiate individual medalist honor in Monday's two-round tournament, outlasting blustery conditions and sporadic cold rain showers.
 
A product of Kennesaw, Ga., Butcher was the only player in the 83-golfer field to card a two-round score under par on Monday, shooting 2-under par 142 (70-72), and guided the Catamounts to a runner-up finish won by the event host, No. 34 Georgia.
 
Butcher was joined in the Top 10 by classmate Andrew Korytoski, another Georgia native who earned his second seasonal finish among the individual leaders in a seventh-place tie.
 
Georgia edged WCU by six strokes, 587-to-593,  to win the team title, leaning on its nine-stroke advantage after the opening round as the Bulldogs stood tied with the Mercer Bears through 18 holes. The Catamounts put on a charge in the second round as the only squad to break 300 as a team, clawing back to within six of the tournament champion. Mercer (600) was relegated to third, followed by a two-way tie for fourth between Radford and Mount St. Mary's with matching scores of 610.
 
Butcher bookended his opening round with bogeys as part of three combined in Monday's first round. However, his five birdies moved him to 4-under par for the day with seven holes to play, finishing at 2-under par. He then birdied two of his first six holes in the second round before three-straight bogeys relegated him to 1-over par.
 
Butcher carded his final birdie on the par-4, 456-yard 11th before shooting even par over the four holes to shoot 72, the lowest second-round score on Monday for the 36-hole score of 142. All told, he paced the field in par-4 scoring at 4-under par (3.80) and was tied for the tournament lead with eight birdies in the two-round event.
 
Korytoski climbed 10 spots in the second round, carding rounds of 2-over par 74 and 3-over par 75 for the 36-hole tally of 149. He countered nine bogeys with four birdies to place in a six-way tie for seventh.
 
Redshirt sophomore Tyler Jones rebounded from an opening-round, 7-over par 79 to shoot 1-over par 73, tied for the second-best second-round score. He was the biggest gainer in the second round, advancing 33 spots into a tie for 21st with a two-round score of 152. Jones was second overall in the field, scoring par on 24 of his 36 holes on Monday, with four birdies.
 
Rounding out WCU's scoring five were senior Ivan Ninkovic in a tie for 24th with a score of 9-over par 153 (73-80) and freshman Connor Williams in a tie for 62nd at 18-over par, 162 (85-77). Ninkovic led the tourney field in par-5 scoring, shooting 6-under par (4.25) on the longest layouts, carding six birdies – all on par-5s. Williams posted a pair of birdies in the second round, advancing 12 spots in the final order.
 
Competing unattached as an individual, WCU redshirt senior Josh Lendach came home in a tie for 40th overall, shooting 13-over par 157. The Raleigh, N.C., product countered five bogeys with a pair of birdies for a first-round 75, tacking on two more birdies on his second 18 holes.
 
Following Monday's 36 holes, the Catamounts close the month with a trip west to the AK-Chin Southern Dunes Golf Course in Maricopa, Ariz., for the Cowboy Classic, hosted by the University of Wyoming, March 31 through April 1. The Catamounts have two events remaining ahead of the 2026 SoCon Men's Golf Championship, April 27-29, at the Solina Golf Course in West Columbia, S.C.
 
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).
 
2 – Western Carolina – 296 – 297 = 593 (+17)
1 – Jace Butcher – 70-72 = 142 (-2)
T7 – Andrew Korytoski – 74-75 = 149 (+5)
T21 – Tyler Jones – 79-73 = 152 (+8)
T24 – Ivan Ninkovic – 73-80 = 153 (+9)
T62 – Connor Williams – 85-77 = 162 (+18)
T40 – Josh Lendach (ind.) – 75-82 = 157 (+13)