West Columbia, S.C. – With a pair of individuals among the tournament leaders, Western Carolina men's golf closed Monday's opening round in second place, just five strokes off the pace at the 2026 Southern Conference Men's Golf Championship being contested at the par-71, 6,766-yard Solina Golf Club.
 
Junior Jace Butcher is among a five-way tie for fourth at 3-under par 68, just two strokes behind the leaders, while classmate Andrew Korytoski (69) is another stroke in arrears in a tie for ninth, as the duo guided the Catamounts through Monday's first round.
 
No. 67 Chattanooga carded 15 birdies and an eagle over its final nine holes as a team to shoot 9-under par 275 and holds a five-stroke lead over the Catamounts heading into Tuesday's second round. Western Carolina shot a 4-under par 280, and ETSU rallied with a 2-under par 282 to finish the first round in the top three, with Samford (283) and Furman (285) close behind.
 
Rounding out the team standings are Mercer (288) in sixth, with UNCG (289) and Wofford (294) completing the eight-team field.
 
UTC's Cam Braidech and Nathan Trodd from Mercer are tied for the individual lead, carding twin scores of 66 to tie the Solina course record. UNC Greensboro standout Kelvin Hernandez is one stroke back of the lead pair after a first-round 67, as a total of 14 golfers finished Monday's first round under par.
 
Action resumes at 9 a.m. on Tuesday with teams teeing off on the first and 10th holes. In the lead pairing with Chattanooga, the Catamounts open on the front nine, starting at 9:50 a.m. Live scoring for each round is available online through the Scoreboard app, powered by Clippd.
 
Opening on the back nine, Butcher was strong out of the gates on Monday, birdying four of his first six holes. A bogey on the par-4 18th had him making the turn at 3-under par for the round. The Kennesaw, Ga., product charted his fifth birdie of the opening round on the par-3, 183-yard second before another bogey two holes later left him at 3-under with five holes to play.
 
Butcher closed the round with five straight pars to remain among the individual leaders. His five birdies on Monday are tied for the third-most in the field, while he is also tied for third in par-3 scoring at 1-under (2.80) on the shortest layouts.
 
Korytoski found himself 2-under par after two holes, posting an eagle on the par-5 11th on his second hole of the day. However, a double-bogey on his next hole left him at even-par, where he stayed through the turn with a birdie and a bogey. A second blemish on the par-4 third pushed him to 1-over par, but he responded with a trio of birdies to move to 2-under par for the day.
 
Korytoski is followed by senior Ivan Ninkovic in a tie for 15th, who shot even-par 71. The Pula, Croatia, product made the turn at 1-under with eight pars and a birdie on the par-4, 391-yard 13th. After a bogey on the par-4 fifth, Ninkovic found his second birdie on his 17th hole of the round to move to 1-under, but a bogey on No. 9 left him even.
 
Korytoski was one of just five golfers to card an eagle on Monday and is tied first in par-4 scoring at 2-under par (3.78). Ninkovic is a stroke back at 1-under par (3.89). Ninkovic matched Samford's Gavin Isbell with a tournament-best 14 pars through Monday's opening 18 holes.
 
Rounding out WCU's scoring five are redshirt sophomore Tyler Jones in a tie for 19th and redshirt senior Josh Lendach in a tie for 39th.
 
Jones, who led the Southern Conference in seasonal scoring average, fought through a pair of double bogeys and a bogey with three-straight birdies on the back nine to make the turn at 2-over par. After a second double-bogey moved him back to 3-over, he closed the day with a pair of birdies over his final five holes to gain momentum into Tuesday's second round. WCU's first on the course on Monday, Lendach birdied the par-4 13th and battled through his opening round.
 
Jones matched Butcher in par-3 scoring at 1-under (2.80), while also tying his teammate with five birdies, tied for fourth in the field.
 
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).
 
2026 SoCon Men's Golf Championship
Round 1 Results – Solina Golf Club
1 – Chattanooga – 275 (-9)
2 – Western Carolina – 280 (-4)
3 – ETSU – 282 (-2)
4 – Samford – 283 (-1)
5 – Furman – 285 (+1)
6 – Mercer – 288 (+4)
7 – UNCG – 289 (+5)
8 – Wofford – 294 (+10)
 
2 – Western Carolina – 280 (-4)
T4 – Jace Butcher – 68 (-3)
T9 – Andrew Korytoski – 69 (-2)
T15 – Ivan Ninkovic – 71 (E)
T19 – Tyler Jones – 72 (+1)
T39 – Josh Lendach – 80 (+9)