Cullowhee, N.C. – Coming off a third-place finish at last year's Southern Conference Men's Golf Championship, and riding the momentum of one of the top regular seasons in program history, the Western Carolina men's golf team opens its quest for a conference crown and postseason berth on Monday at the par-72, 6,766-yard Solina Golf Club in West Columbia, S.C.
 
It's the first year Solina Golf Club has hosted the SoCon Men's Golf Championship, which changed locations for the first time since the 2019 season. Last year's women's championship was hosted at the Solina GC, managed by the Bluebird Golf and Resort Management group, which also manages the Columbia Country Club, which hosted last week's women's championship.
 
The tournament is scheduled for a traditional format of one round a day over three days. Teams can carry six golfers with a scoring five and one alternate, who may be used in any of the rounds as a substitution at the beginning of the round. The best four individual scores each day will comprise the team score, as both a team and individual medalist will be awarded.
 
The league's eight teams will compete for the SoCon Championship and an automatic bid to a NCAA regional. The individual medalist will also earn an automatic regional qualification if he is not on the winning team.
 
The three-round, 54-hole tournament opens with tee times starting at 9 a.m. off the first and 10th tees on Monday. Paired with golfers from Mercer, the Catamounts hit the course on the back nine beginning at 9:05 a.m. Live scoring for each round is available online through the Scoreboard app, powered by Clippd.
 
"It's going to be a fun week in Columbia. We're playing a new course this week, but I like the way it sets up for us," said WCU head coach Tim Eckberg. "It's been a heck of a year, one of the best in program history. This group has knocked on the door all year, but we knew it would come down to April. I'm excited to see what this group does together this week."
 
Six of the eight SoCon teams enter this year's championship ranked inside the top 150 nationally. Chattanooga (67) and ETSU (81) lead the conference inside the national Top 100, followed by UNCG (111), Furman (120), Western Carolina (123), Mercer (150), Wofford (166), and Samford (199).
 
Two teams – Chattanooga and Samford – won team championships during the 2025-26 regular season, with three – ETSU, WCU, and Wofford – each collecting runner-up finishes. The Catamounts enter this year's conference championship with a league-best six podium performances, finishing second and third three times apiece.
 
Only four individuals from the SoCon – including two Catamounts, Tyler Jones (3) and Jace Butcher (1), joined by Furman's Harris Barth (1) and Evan Rogers (1) of Chattanooga – earned individual medalist honors during 2025-26.
 
Eckberg added, "As always, it's a strong group of teams in the Southern Conference, and we will need our best, most complete, and smartest team effort of the season to come out on top."
 
Entering the championship event, Western Carolina has three individuals ranked inside the top 15 in the SoCon in seasonal scoring average. Redshirt sophomore Tyler Jones leads the conference with a seasonal average of 70.24, shooting 15 of his 29 rounds in the 60s this year, his first for the Catamounts. Jones, who is ranked No. 174 in the latest NCAA rankings from Clippd, won three tournaments during the regular season to match.
 
Junior Jace Butcher is a second Catamount among the league leaders in stroke average, carrying his ninth-best scoring average of 72.17 into the event as WCU's second seed. Butcher had three top 10 finishes this season, including winning the Univ. of Georgia-hosted Southern Intercollegiate. His classmate, Andrew Korytoski (73.93), is seeded third, posting 24 of his 29 rounds in the 70s and twice shooting 68 in posting a third-place finish at the Nemacolin Collegiate, hosted by West Virginia.
 
Senior Ivan Ninkovic is seeded fourth, though he ranked 15th in the SoCon scoring standings at 72.52. The Pula, Croatia, product was tied for the lowest single round in the SoCon this season, carding a second-round 63 at the JT Poston Invitational in the fall that was matched by UNCG's Will Guidry (63, Elon Phoenix Invitational).
 
Ninkovic posted WCU's third-best, 54-hole score at the conference champion crowning event last year in his third-place finish. Last year's Catamount squad posted the team's best finish since 2021, while setting the program's best-ever 54-hole score at the conference championship at 14-under par 850.
 
Rounding out WCU's lineup are redshirt senior Josh Lendach and true freshman Connor Williams, with Lendach listed at No. 5 and Williams as the alternate. Lendach has a seasonal scoring average of 74.50, carding 17 of his 20 rounds in the 70s with a season-low round of 69 shot at the Poston Invitational. Williams (76.30) played in eight tournaments with 16 of his 23 rounds in the 70s, shooting a career-low round of 71 four times.
 
Talking about the tremendous 2025-26 season for WCU, the Catamounts have collected a 109-41 overall record, earning a victory for each squad that a team finishes ahead of in seasonal tournaments. Western Carolina collected eight top-five finishes as a team during the 2025-26 season, including six podium – or top-three – finishes.
 
Three of WCU's scoring five earned weekly plaudits from the SoCon this season, with Jones collecting a league-best four awards. He was joined by Butcher (March 18) and Korytoski (October 1) to also receive honors during the 2025-26 season.
 
This year marks the 22nd time the SoCon Men's Golf Championship has been contested in the Palmetto State, but the first since 2013 when the Daniel Island Club hosted just outside of Charleston, S.C.
 
The 2025-26 Southern Conference postseason awards will be announced on Monday, May 4, following the completion of the championship event.
 
History of the Southern Conference Men's Golf Championship:
The SoCon Men's Golf Championship has a storied history. It was first contested in 1930 with a 36-hole format, with Alabama winning the title. The championship moved to 54 holes in 1973 and included five players' scores counting from 1969 until 1982, when it moved back to four players contributing to the round score. ETSU has won six of the last eight team championships, dating back to 2015. The 2020 event was not contested due to COVID-19. UNCG claimed consecutive titles in 2018 and 2019.
 
Dating back to 1930, the tournament has produced winners such as Wake Forest's Arnold Palmer (1948 and 1949) and Furman's Brad Faxon (1983), both SoCon Hall-of-Famers, and current PGA TOUR pros Stephan Jaeger of Chattanooga (2012), WCU's JT Poston (2014 and 2015). and William McGirt of Wofford (2001).
 
WCU has twice posted runner-up finishes in the SoCon Men's Golf Championship, led by Brett D. Miller and Scott Garrett in 1986, while the 2021 Catamounts were paced by Louis Theys. Last year, Ninkovic gave WCU another podium finisher in a third-place tie.
 
All told, five-time defending champion ETSU owns 25 SoCon team titles, while Furman has 13 and Chattanooga has six to its credit. Furman's last was in 2010, and Chattanooga claimed consecutive titles in 2012 and 2013. The Buccaneers have a league-best 19 individual medalists to their credit, followed closely by Furman with 14. Western Carolina has had five medalists, while UNCG has had three, Chattanooga and Wofford both with two apiece.
 
WCU's five individual medalists include Kelly Leonhardt (1987), Bruce Kullman (1991), Matt Cook (twice; 2006, 2008), and JT Poston (twice; 2014, 2015).
 
Complete results of the 2026 SoCon Men's Golf Championship will be made available after play concludes through SoConSports.com and CatamountSports.com.
 
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).