ANDERSON, S.C. – Less than a week after competing at Western New Mexico's Mustang Intercollegiate in Goodyear, Ariz., the Anderson's men's golf team is set to host the three-day 2018 South Atlantic Conference Men's Golf Championship, which begins on Sunday.
After being hosted by Catawba at the Country Club of Salisbury (N.C.) last year, this year's championship will be hosted by the Trojans at the Cobb's Glen Country Club in Anderson, S.C., with a par-72, 7,002-yard layout.
The league boasts six teams in the top 50 in the latest GolfStat NCAA Division II National Rankings. No. 20 Carson-Newman is the defending SAC Champion and will be seeking its fourth overall conference title – and third in five years - while 16th-ranked Lincoln Memorial is also searching for its fourth overall title and its' second in three years after claiming the 2016 Championship. No. 10 Catawba is looking for its fifth conference championship, but first since sharing the title with Presbyterian in 2000, while eighth-ranked Newberry has earned three league championships - most recently in 2011 - with five different teams claiming the title in the last seven years.
The Trojans finished ninth a year ago in the Tar Heel State, while posting their highest finish since joining the SAC with a fourth-place showing in 2012.
Grayson Bell claimed a share of 32nd place at last year's SAC Championship, with Jake Miller finishing in a tie for 46th.
This year's Black and Gold squad posted its three lowest rounds of the season over the past two weeks, with freshman Colt Martin firing a 3-under-par 69 in last Monday's second round of the Mustang Intercollegiate and senior Forrest Fowler carding a 2-under 70 during Tuesday's final round. Miller, a sophomore, posted a pair of 2-under-par 70s at Lander's Bearcat Invitational less than two weeks ago.
Miller leads the team with a 74.00 stroke average through eight tournaments this season and posed three top-15 finishes, with Fowler finishing second at last September's AU Invitational and recording a 75.71 stroke average through 14 rounds on the year. Martin has a 76.07 stroke average through six tournaments and claimed a share of eighth place on the Cobb's Glen course last fall. Freshman Cal Brock owns a 76.21 average and notched a pair of top-20 finishes on the season.
Bell posted a share of 10th place at the AU Invitational and tied for 28th place a week later at the King University Invitational en route to a 76.45 stroke average on the season. Sophomore Brady Cox notched a season-low 71 and finished in a tie for 22nd at the King Invite, while claiming a share of 24th at the AU Invitational.
Tee times for the three-day event are set for 8:30 a.m. and admission is free.
