West Columbia, S.C. – Hampered by mid-morning rain showers, a 51-minute lightning delay that chased all the golfers back to the clubhouse, and much more difficult pin placements after 14 golfers broke par on Monday, Western Carolina men's golf slipped to third after Tuesday's second round at the 2026 Southern Conference Men's Golf Championship, hosted at the par-71, 6,766-yard Solina Golf Club.
 
First-round leader Chattanooga extended its lead to 11 strokes with a two-day total of 565, with Furman climbing three spots in day two into the runner-up spot at 8-over par 576. The Paladins hold a one-stroke edge over Western Carolina (577), with Mercer (578) and UNC Greensboro (579) both advancing two positions to complete the Top Five. Just three strokes separate second-place Furman (576) from fifth-place UNCG (579).
 
East Tennessee State (581) slipped into sixth overall, with Wofford (586) and Samford (588) rounding out the field.
 
After sharing the top of the podium after 18 holes, Mercer's Nathan Trodd (137) holds a one-stroke advantage over Chattanooga's Evan Rogers (138), who advanced two positions into the runner-up spot. UNCG's Kelvin Hernandez (139) is two strokes off the pace, tied with hard-charging Henry Robards of Mercer, who leapt 21 positions by matching this year's tournament-low round with a 66 to tie the course record on Tuesday.
 
Anticipating early-morning rain on Wednesday, tournament officials have adjusted the final round tee times to a 10:30 a.m. start off both the first and 10th tees. Like in Monday's opening round, the Catamount scoring five is paired with Mercer and will open on the front nine for the second consecutive day.

Live scoring for the final round is available online through the Scoreboard app, powered by Clippd. WCU enters Wednesday seeking its fifth top-four finish since 2021, including a program-best-tying second-place finish in 2021 and a third-place showing a season ago.
   
The Southern Conference's leading scorer through the regular season, WCU redshirt sophomore Tyler Jones, returned to form on Tuesday by firing his 16th seasonal round in the 60s, with a 2-under par 69. The Jacksonville, N.C., product followed up his five-birdie opening round with six on Tuesday, tied for the most in the field, for a total of 11 birdies.
 
However, much like the opening of Tuesday's round two, the day began rough for Jones.
 
After salvaging a par on his first hole of the day, Jones charted a double-bogey on the par-3, 183-yard second and a bogey on the 491-yard par-5 second to be behind on the scorecard right out of the clubhouse. Consecutive pars on holes No. 4 and 5 allowed him to right the ship, though, closing the front nine with three birdies over his final four holes to make the turn to the back at even-par.
 
Even-par through 13 holes with a birdie and a bogey just past the turn, Jones closed the day with a pair of birdies over his final six holes for the 2-under par round and a two-round total of 1-under par 141.
 
Jace Butcher slid into a two-way tie for 10th after shooting 4-over par 75 for a two-day score of 1-over par, 143. A double-bogey on the par-4 fifth snapped a string of four straight pars to open the second round. He countered a bogey with the first of two birdies on the day to make the turn at 2-over par. A frustrating 13th with a tight pin placement resulted in a second double bogey that he countered with a birdie on the par-5 15th before a bogey on his 36th hole of the tournament relegated him to 4-over.
 
Senior Ivan Ninkovic advanced to 14th position with a 3-over par second round 74 and a two-day total of 145. The Pula, Croatia, product had a very busy round, countering six bogeys with three birdies to give him five at the event. Ninkovic is tied with Butcher with 23 pars through the tournament's opening 36 holes, tied for the third-most in the field.

Rounding out WCU's scoring five is junior Andrew Korytoski, tied for 26th at 149, and redshirt senior Josh Lendach is in 38th with a total of 159, including a 79, which counted for the team on Tuesday. Korytoski turned to the back at 1-over par after posting four bogeys and a trio of birdies. But a rough stretch with a bogey and three straight double-bogeys relegated him to 8-over par for finishing at 8-over, 80. Lendach carded his second birdie of the event, but battled through nine bogeys.
 
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 2 Results – Solina Golf Club – Par-71, 6,766 yards
1 – Chattanooga – 275-290 = 565 (-3)
2 – Furman – 285-291 = 576 (+8)
3 – Western Carolina – 280-297 = 577 (+9)
4 – Mercer – 288-290 = 578 (+10)
5 – UNCG – 289-290 = 579 (+11)
6 – ETSU – 282-299 = 581 (+13)
7 – Wofford – 294292 = 586 (+18)
8 – Samford – 283-305 = 588 (+20)
 
3 – Western Carolina – 280 – 297 = 577 (+9)
T6 – Tyler Jones – 72-69 = 141 (-1)
T10 – Jace Butcher – 68-75 = 143 (+1)
T14 – Ivan Ninkovic – 71-74 = 145 (+3)
T26 – Andrew Korytoski – 69-80 = 149 (+7)
38 – Josh Lendach – 80-79 = 159 (+17)