Cullowhee, N.C. – Western Carolina junior Jace Butcher was today named the Southern Conference Men's Golfer of the Week, collecting a pair of Top 10 finishes, including his first collegiate medalist honors at the Southern Intercollegiate.
 
Butcher helped guide the Catamounts to a pair of runner-up team finishes in Georgia, finishing second at both The Peoples Championship at Sea Palms Resort and the Southern Intercollegiate. WCU was only bested by Xavier and No. 34 Georgia in the two events, finishing second out of 21 teams in St. Simons Island, Ga., and second out of 15 teams in Athens.
 
Butcher is the third different WCU men's golfer to claim weekly honors from the Southern Conference this season, as the Catamounts have been recognized five times this season. Redshirt sophomore transfer Tyler Jones has garnered a SoCon-leading three honors, selected on Sept. 10, Feb. 4, and Feb. 18. Butcher joins classmate Andrew Korytoski, who received the weekly award back on Oct. 1.
 
WCU's five SoCon weekly awards are the most in the league this season. It also represents a program record, surpassing the three accolades earned in 2006 by Tripp Morrow and Matt Cook, twice, and again in 2015, when JT Poston was thrice honored. The SoCon started handing out its weekly awards in both the fall and spring semesters in 2019-20.
 
A junior from Kennesaw, Ga., Butcher took full advantage of playing in his home state, tying for seventh at the The Peoples Championship, before claiming individual medalist honors at the Southern Intercollegiate at the Athens Country Club.
 
Butcher turned in rounds of 3-under par 68, 2-under par 69, and even-par 71, for a three-round score of 208 at the par-71, 6,664-yard Sea Palms Resort. He ranked among the tournament leaders in par-5 scoring, shooting 8-under (4.33) at The Peoples.
 
In the team's second event of the week, the third-year striker shot 2-under par 70 to sit tied for first after the first round, following it with an even-par 72 in the second, battling the elements for the lowest second round score in the tournament.  Butcher paced the field in par-4 scoring at the Southern Intercollegiate at 4-under par (3.80) and was tied for the tournament lead with eight birdies over 36 holes.
 
Butcher carded a combined 24 birdies over the 90 combined holes in the week's five rounds, averaging a team-best 70.00, with a pair of rounds fired in the 60s.
 
This season, Butcher ranks 10th in the SoCon in scoring average at 72.22, posting 1,661 strokes over 23 rounds between the fall and spring events. He is one of just three SoCon men's golfers on record to have collected a first-place finish, joining two-time winner and teammate Tyler Jones and Furman's Harris Barth, who won back in the fall semester.
 
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. WCU closes 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, before competing in the Wofford Invitational in Spartanburg, S.C., April 12-14.
 
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