Bermuda Run, N.C. – Western Carolina redshirt sophomore men's golfer
Tyler Jones opens his journey in the 2026 NCAA Men's Golf Winston-Salem Regional on Monday (May 18), one of five individuals to join 14 qualifying teams vying for the chance to advance to the NCAA Men's Golf National Championship.
The NCAA Men's Golf Winston-Salem Regional is scheduled for May 18-20, hosted by Wake Forest at the par-71, 7,013-yard Bermuda Run Country Club in Bermuda Run, N.C., just west of Winston-Salem, with free admission over the three-day event. The Bermuda Run CC was originally built in 1920 and was renamed in 1971. The course hosted the 1986 NCAA National Championship.
The top five finishing teams and the low-scoring individual who is not on any of the advancing teams from each regional event will advance to the NCAA Championship finals, scheduled for May 29 through June 2, at the Omni La Costa Resort & Spa in Carlsbad, Calif.
Each regional round will have
online live scoring through the Scoreboard app, powered by Clippd, with
live video provided through Babygrande Golf (
paid subscription required).
Jones, the Southern Conference Men's Golfer of the Year, who is ranked No. 186 in the latest rankings by Clippd, is paired with Jack Tarzy of the United States Naval Academy, which won the Patriot League team championship, and Spence Hagood from the Big South Conference team champion, Presbyterian. The threesome tees off the front nine beginning at 9:53 a.m. on Monday.
He is among three individual men's golfers from the SoCon to earn an at-large bid to this year's NCAA postseason. Jones is joined in Winston by UNCG's Kelvin Hernandez, who won the SoCon individual medalist honor, and Harris Barth from Furman.
A product of Jacksonville, N.C., Jones is just the third men's golfer to earn an at-large bid into an NCAA regional, and the first since 2015. He joins a select company that includes WCU Hall of Famer Matt Cook and current PGA Tour professional JT Poston. Cook received individual bids in 2006 and 2007, finishing 20th overall in the latter before going with the team in 2008. Poston earned a trio of berths between 2013 and 2015, advancing to the NCAA Championship as a senior in 2015 after finishing in a second-place tie in the regional.
This season, Jones was one of just five men's golfers in the SoCon to claim individual medalist honors, leading the league with three tournament titles. He led the SoCon with a seasonal stroke average of 70.31, the second-best individual season in WCU men's golf history, only trailing Poston's 70.27 average from 2013-14. Half of his 32 seasonal rounds were carded in the 60s, with all 32 shot in the 70s or better.
Jones became just the fourth Catamount to earn SoCon Men's Golfer of the Year honors, joining Bruce Kullman (1991), Cook (2006), and Poston (2014). He additionally collected a league-best four SoCon Men's Golfer of the Week plaudits.
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).
Bermuda Run Regional (14 teams, five individuals):
Seed 1 – Virginia (ACC Champion)
Seed 2 – Ole Miss (SEC Champion)
Seed 3 – Pepperdine (West Coast Conference Champion)
Seed 4 – Georgia Tech
Seed 5 – Southern California
Seed 6 – Wake Forest (host)
Seed 7 – Mississippi State
Seed 8 – Little Rock (Ohio Valley Conference Champion)
Seed 9 – NC State
Seed 10 – Kentucky
Seed 11 – Houston
Seed 12 – Richmond (Atlantic-10 Champion)
Seed 13 – Navy (Patriot League Champion)
Seed 14 – Presbyterian (Big South Conference Champion)
Individuals:
Harris Barth, Furman
Kelvin Hernandez, UNCG (SoCon Individual Champion)
Dewi John, Charleston Southern (Big South Individual Champion)
Tyler Jones, Western Carolina
Emil Riegger, Maryland
