SPARTANBURG, S.C. – Western Carolina’s Presten Richardson has been selected as the Southern Conference Men’s Golfer of the Week for all competition from Feb. 9-15. The selection is made by the league office.
 
Richardson led the Catamounts at the spring-opening Advance Golf Partners Collegiate tournament on Feb. 13-15, posting a career-best 6-under-par 210 performance to place second. The sophomore opened the tournament by going bogey-free through 37 straight holes over the first two rounds, posting a 4-under 68 in Sunday’s opening round before matching his best single-round score of 5-under 67 in Monday’s second round. Richardson shot a 3-over par 75 in the final round, with his three-round score of 210 marking the lowest 54-hole score of his career, and finished tied for fourth in the tournament field with 39 pars and 11 birdies. The Miller, Missouri, native finished just ahead of a pair of SoCon foes and nationally ranked men’s golfers, Mercer’s No. 29 Tobias Jonsson (third) and UNCG’s Nick Lyerly (fourth), the highest-ranked golfer in the field at No. 18.
 
Western Carolina finished tied for sixth in the 21-team, 121-golfer field, completing the tournament with a 12-over 887 performance to tie with Drexel. The Catamounts shot 284 in the first round, 303 in the second, and 300 in the final round, securing wins over Old Dominion (+9), Valparaiso (+8), and Campbell (+10).
 
Three SoCon men’s golf teams are back in action next week on Feb. 21-22, with Furman, Mercer and Western Carolina competing at the Wexford Plantation Intercollegiate hosted by Francis Marion in Hilton Head, South Carolina. UNCG and Wofford return to the green on Feb. 27 to March 1 to compete in UNCG’s Dorado Beach Collegiate in Dorado, Puerto Rico.

Also nominated: Archie Davies (ETSU) and Tobias Jonsson (Mercer).
 
2021 SoCon Men’s Golfer of the Week
 
Sept. 15           Harry Jones, So., Wofford
Sept. 29           Braedon Wear, Fr., Chattanooga
Oct. 13             Remi Chartier, R-So., ETSU
Oct. 20             Nick Lyerly, Sr., UNCG
Oct. 27             Nick Lyerly, Sr., UNCG
Nov. 3              Remi Chartier, R-So., ETSU
Feb. 16             Preston Richardson, So., Western Carolina