ANDERSON, S.C. – The Anderson University men's golf team, alongside Erskine, is set to host the first-ever McCoy Wright Currahee Collegiate Invitational, Monday and Tuesday at the Currahee Club in Toccoa, Ga.
The Trojans and Flying Fleet will welcome thirteen other teams to the mountains of northeast Georgia, with nearly every team in the 15-team field receiving votes in the latest Bushnell/Golfweek Coaches Poll. Eight of the top 16 squads in the nation, including half of the top 10 teams in the nation will tee off in Toccoa, Monday morning.
The 54-hole, two-day event will feature a par-72, 7,513-yard layout, with 36 holes on Monday and the final round slated for Tuesday.
After etching their names in the school history books by winning three consecutive tournament titles in a season, the nationally seventh-ranked Trojans are setting their sights on gaining even more national attention. AU has opened the season by winning North Georgia's Mizuno Intercollegiate, Columbus State's Cougar Invitational and Limestone's Camden Collegiate and following a three-week layoff, will wrap up its fall slate with the Currahee Collegiate.
The Trojans have already set the top two three-round scores in program history, with their 54-hole 847 at the Camden Collegiate marking the second-lowest three-round score in program history – behind just the school-record 846 set two weeks earlier at North Georgia's Mizuno Intercollegiate. They also own the top three 36-hole scores, with their second- and third-round 559 at Camden setting a new school benchmark.
The 2022-23 edition of AU men's golf also owns five of the top nine single-round marks in program history, with the Trojans' third-round 277 at Camden matching the second-lowest single round in school history – behind just their school-record second-round 275 at Columbus State.
Senior Reece Coleman paces the team with a 69.33 unadjusted stroke average and claimed South Atlantic Conference Golfer of the Week accolades two weeks ago. He narrowly missed out on capturing his third career title at the Camden Collegiate after finishing alone in third place by just one stroke and finished as runner-up at Columbus State - with his second-round 65 marking the third-lowest round in school history. So far this season, the Port Elizabeth, South Africa, native has posted the third-, fourth- and fifth-lowest three-round scores in program history.
Junior Calahan Keever was named the SAC Golfer of the Week after matching Coleman's school record with a 54-hole, 10-under-par 206 at the Mizuno Intercollegiate and finishing tied at the top of the leaderboard. He owns a 69.56 unadjusted stroke average and has not finished lower than fourth this season.
Daniel Coker is coming off an 18th-place finish at Camden, while matching his career low with a second-round, 1-over-par 71. Sophomore Simon Wright has a 73.11 stroke average and has shared 14th place in each of the last two tournaments, while firing a season-best, 1-under 69 at the Cougar Invitational.
Freshman Alejandro de Castro has posted a 73.33 stroke average through nine rounds and is coming off a seventh-place finish at Camden after matching the eighth-best single round in school history with a 3-under 67 two weeks ago. Senior Parker MacDonald has not finished lower than 34th this season and owns a 75.00 average after carding a career-low 1-under 71 at the Mizuno Intercollegiate and firing a third-round 72 in Camden. Freshman Sam Norris claimed a share of 44th place two weeks ago, while notching a third-round 74.
A Jim Fazio-designed golf course, Currahee features par-72, 7,513-yard championship tees and has been named as one of the "Top 100 Residential Courses in America" by Golfweek in six of the last seven years and was tabbed "Golf Club of the Year" in 2018 by Lux Life Magazine. In 2015, the National Golf Course Owners Association named Currahee the No. 1 Golf Club in Georgia and among the top-4 in the USA.
