SPARTANBURG, S.C. – The 78th edition of the Southern Conference Men’s Golf Championship will be played Sunday through Tuesday at the National Golf Club in Pinehurst, N.C.
The tournament returns to Pinehurst for the first time since 1980 and will be played at the National for the first time. The Jack Nicklaus Signature course will play at par-72, 7,122 yards.
Chattanooga is the defending SoCon champion, as the Mocs edged Davidson by just two strokes at Daniel Island Club’s Ralston Creek Course in Daniel Island, S.C., last season. Chattanooga finished with a 20-over 884 for its second straight title and fifth in the last seven seasons. The Mocs own six titles overall.
Four SoCon schools enter the 2014 tournament ranked in the top 100 nationally. Georgia Southern is the league’s top-ranked school at No. 47, while UNCG checks in at No. 59, Chattanooga sits 64th and Davidson is ranked No. 100.
Josh Lorenzetti of former league member College of Charleston claimed the individual win in 2013, turning in a 1-under 215 to take a two-stroke victory over a trio of golfers in second place. Two of those runners-up return this year in Davidson’s Todd Eckstein and UNCG’s Taylor Coalson, who shared SoCon Freshman of the Year honors with Lorenzetti.
Appalachian State’s Casey Komline, Davidson’s Richard Fountain, Chattanooga’s Davis Bunn and Chris Robb and Western Carolina’s J.T. Poston were also top-10 finishers last year who will be returning for this season’s event. Georgia Southern’s Scott Wolfes, the 2013 SoCon Player of the Year, will also be in the field.
Poston leads the league this season with a 70.11 stroke average. He is ranked 13th nationally and is on the watch lists for the Ben Hogan Award and the Haskins Award.
The team winner of the SoCon Championship will earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA regional, while the individual medalist will also earn an automatic regional qualification.
The tournament tees off at 8 a.m. Sunday. Live stats can be found at http://www.golfstatresults.com/public/indexh.cfm?tournament_id=4675.
-www.SoConSports.com-