Sunday, April 17
Florence, S.C.
All Day
Davidson College
vs
Southern Conference Championship
SoCon Men's Golf Championship Tees Off Sunday
4/15/2011 11:39:49 AM | Men's Golf
DAVIDSON, N.C. – Davidson will look for a strong performance at the 75th Southern Conference Men's Golf Championship, which begins Sunday at the Country Club of South Carolina in Florence, S.C., and runs through Tuesday.
The tournament tees off at 9 a.m. Sunday morning, and fans unable to attend the tournament, which is open to the public free of charge, can follow the action at http://golfstatresults.com/public/index.cfm?tournament_id=2204. The second round is scheduled to tee off at 9 a.m. Monday, while the third and final round will begin at 8 a.m. Tuesday.
This is the fifth-straight year the Country Club of South Carolina has hosted the event. Furman is the defending champion at the par 72, 7,062-yard course.
A trio of underclassmen has led the Wildcats so far this season. Freshman Richard Fountain and sophomore John Skeadas III have led the 'Cats in stroke average and rank 16th (74.33) and 17th (74.39), respectively, in the Southern Conference. Fountain, won the Mizuno Savannah Intercollegiate, just his third collegiate tournament, back in the fall. Skeadas either led or tied for the team lead individually in the first three tournaments of the spring.
Freshman Sam Echikson ranks 25th in the conference at 74.75 and posted a collegiate-best round of 68 last weekend at the Irish Creek Collegiate, where he led the 'Cats with a 27th place finish. Junior Jackson Taylor and senior captain Bobby Urso could also have strong performances. Taylor fired a season-best round of 70 at last weekend's Irish Creek Collegiate, and Urso's last round at the Country Club of South Carolina was a career-best 66 on the final day of last year's SoCon Championship.
The winner of the SoCon Championship will earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Regional, which will take place May 19-21, while the individual medalist will also earn an automatic regional qualification.
Chattanooga enters the event as the top-rated SoCon team in 2011, carrying a No. 33 national rating from Golfstat. Chattanooga is led by reigning conference Player of the Year Stephan Jaeger who has been on a recent tear with three-straight top-10 finishes, including the championship at the LSU National Invitational in Baton Rouge, La.
UNCG follows Chattanooga in the national rankings, entering this weekend in the 87th spot. Appalachian State, Elon, Furman, Georgia Southern and Wofford have all won team titles during the 2010-11 season and will be joined at the tournament by College of Charleston, Western Carolina and Davidson.
The Southern Conference Men's Golf Championship has been played every season since 1933, aside from a four-year hiatus during World War II, and the event boasts past champions such as Arnold Palmer (1948-49) and Brad Faxon (1983).
The Wildcats are five-time SoCon Champions, but have not won since claiming three-straight titles from 1966-1968 and are coming off a 10th-place finish last season. Rusty Boyd is the last individual medalist from Davidson, winning in 1973 in Florence. Alex Knoll came the closest to ending the 'Cats' medalist drought in 2007, finishing as the runner-up.
Golf - River Run Collegiate
Monday, January 30
Davidson Men's Golf -- 2022 NCAA Regional Preview
Sunday, May 15
Catching Up with the 'Cats -- Alex Knoll '07
Monday, August 03
Play From Home: Golf's Alex Ross
Wednesday, April 29