Conference Carolinas

Erskine Ranked First in Men’s Golf Coaches Preseason Poll

1/27/2015 12:00:00 AM

High Point, NC – After winning the Conference Carolinas Championship Tournament last year and earning consecutive trips to the NCAA South-Southeast Regional Tournament, the Erskine Men's Golf Team seeks to repeat as conference champions and earn their third straight trip to the regional tournament.

The Flying Fleet return their top five golfers from last year's title squad, including All-Region and 1^st Team All-Conference golfer Brad Thorne. Last year Thorne led the Flying Fleet at the regional tournament, firing a one over par to finish in 15^th place.

Thorne is joined by fellow senior Ford Blanchard, who earned 2^nd Team All-Conference honors last year. Blanchard led the Fleet to two tournament wins this past fall. Blanchard shot a four under par to finish second at the Anderson University Invitational and followed up with another splendid performance at the Kiawah Island Invitational, placing ninth in the highly competitive tournament that featured several nationally ranked teams.

Also returning are junior Tyler Lucas and sophomore Paul Fitzgerald. Both golfers have the talent to play at the top of the leaderboard. Lucas led the Fleet to a second place finish at the King University Invitational with fourth place finish while Fitzgerald paced the team to a third place finish at the Jay Jennison Memorial Tournament.

The Limestone College men's golf program has been selected to finish second by the league head coaches in the 2015 Conference Carolinas Men's Golf preseason poll. Led by six returning letterwinners and two newcomers, head coach Zack Siefert has his program poised to head back to the NCAA Regionals for a second consecutive season.

The Saints return last season's Conference Freshman of the Year in Will Woodard to go along with returning All-Conference members junior Matt Mullarkey, junior Griffin Brown and senior Cody Clepper. With junior Clayton Presant, sophomore Cabrick Waters and freshmen Chase Cale and Bobby Powell, the Blue and Golf feature one of the deepest teams in all of the Southeast Region.

Limestone got off to a hot start this fall with a first-place showing at the Smokey Mountain Intercollegiate and a third-place finish at the Jay Jennison Memorial. Griffin Brown is also off to the best start of his career as he is averaging even par over nine rounds played.

Selected to finish third, the North Greenville men's golf team enters the 2015 season with a wealth of experience to lead the charge. Tucker MacDonald returns as the squad's only All-Conference performer, but Sam Goodnight also brings a solid presence North Greenville's starting five. MacDonald and Goodnight combined for three wins combined last season, on a team that went on to win that won five of the last 10 tournaments, dating back to last spring.

Adding to the strength of the two seniors is sophomore Christian Constance who is ranked 49^th in all of Division II golf. Constance is riding a wave of momentum into the spring season, winning two tournaments during the fall slate. NGU will also rely on two solid freshmen in Evan Gfeller and Chase Fisher. Gfeller was a solid option during the fall, setting the course record at the King Invitational, shooting a 62, which was also the lowest round shot in Division II golf this season. North Greenville men's golf enter the 2015 season ranked 17^th by Golfstat.com

Mount Olive finished fourth in the poll with Barton fifth, followed by King, Belmont Abbey, and Pfeiffer University respectively rounding-out the poll standings.

 

Conference Carolinas Men's Golf Preseason Poll 

(# of First Place Votes in Parenthesis)