ANDERSON, S.C. – The Anderson's men's golf team is set to compete at the 2019 South Atlantic Conference Championship, which begins on Sunday.
After AU hosted the championship last year, this year's three-day, 54-hole tournament will be hosted by Coker on a par-72, 6,455-yard Camden Country Club layout.
The league boasts five teams in the top-50 in the latest Golfstat NCAA Division II National Rankings, with 10th-ranked Lincoln Memorial leading the way. The Railsplitters have won the SAC title three times over the past nine years, most recently in 2016. No. 14 Carson-Newman is the two-time defending SAC Champion and will be seeking its fifth overall conference title – and fourth in six years – while 33rd-ranked Newberry has captured three league championships - most recently in 2011.
Queens, which is ranked 38th nationally, is searching for its first SAC Championship since joining the league in 2014. 48th-ranked Wingate won the title in 2012. Alongside Carson-Newman, Catawba will be looking to equal the conference record with its fifth league championship, but first since sharing the title with Presbyterian in 2000. Former members Elon and Presbyterian also won the championship on five occasions.
The Trojans finished sixth a year ago on their home course, while posting their highest finish since joining the SAC with a fourth-place showing in 2012.
Jake Miller fired a then career-best 67 during last year's opening round and finished second a year ago, with Cal Brock sharing 25th place. Grayson Bell took home a share of 39th place, while Colt Martin and Hunter Parks claimed 41st and 49th place, respectively.
This year's Black and Gold squad is coming off a strong 14th-place showing at the Hanny Stanislaus Invitational in Turlock, Calif., two weeks ago. The 17-team field in the Garden State featured seven nationally-ranked top-50 teams.
Miller, who is ranked fifth in the SAC and 47th nationally, leads the team with an unadjusted 72.05 stroke average through eight tournaments this season and has posted nine rounds of par or better on the season, including a season-low 67 on three occasions. Miller has claimed four top-10 finishes, including three finishes in the top-five, highlighted by a third-place finish at the AU Invitational.
Brock and Bell have also each posted low-round 67s this year, while Martin notched a 69 in the second round of the Donald Ross Intercollegiate in mid-October. Brock is second on the squad with a 75.15 unadjusted stroke average and has two top-10 finishes, with Bell owning a 76.90 unadjusted stroke average and Martin owning a 78.14 stroke average through eight tournaments. Bell captured individual medalist honors at the King Invitational in late September.
Tee times for the three-day event are set for 8:30 a.m. and admission is free, with live scoring available for all three rounds through Birdiefire.com.
