VIDEO: Preview with coach Larry Mays, Will Evans and Scott Wolfes | Live scoring | Round 1 tee times (PDF)
STATESBORO, Ga. – The Georgia Southern golf team will travel to Daniel Island, S.C., to compete in the 77th edition of the Southern Conference Championships at Ralston Creek Course April 21-23.
The league's automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals will be on the line as the Eagles attempt to win their fourth SoCon title and first since 2011. The individual medalist will also earn an automatic regional qualification.
The tournament is being played at Ralston Creek for the second time after moving there in 2012. The par-72, 7,446-yard course was designed by Rees Jones and hosted the 2011 Nationwide Tour Championship.
Georgia Southern has won three tournament titles in 2012-13 and finished in the top-5 in five tournaments. The Eagles are coming off a 10th-place outing in the Gary Koch Intercollegiate April 9, which featured seven top-50 teams in the Golf Week rankings. The Eagles have been plagued by slow starts in their last four tourneys, shooting a team score of 295 or higher.
On the flip side, Georgia Southern has been a strong finishing team throughout the season, firing a 290 or lower in its final round in six tournaments, including a 282 at the Mason Rudolph Championships, a 277 at the ODU/OBX Intercollegiate and a 284 at the SunTrust Gator Invitational.
"We need to use the practice round to get them ready to go so that they come out and realize that every single stroke counts, whether it's in the first round or the last round," said Georgia Southern coach Larry Mays. "They need to come out with a sense of urgency that if we jump out ahead maybe we can stay out there."
Last year's champion Chattanooga, which finished 19 strokes ahead of second-place Georgia Southern, enters the tournament as the favorite according to the GolfStat rankings, checking in at No. 48 nationally. Georgia Southern is No. 53, while Davidson is No. 83 and College of Charleston is No. 91, giving the league four teams in the top 100.
Four Eagles who have competed together in nine of GSU's 10 tournaments this season will tee it up Sunday. Two –sophomore Scott Wolfes and junior Hayden Anderson (right) – played in last year's SoCon Tournament. They will be able to provide invaluable advice to their teammates, both on the overall experience and the course, heading into the weekend.
"The main thing is to just have fun," said Wolfes, "and I can tell them which holes to watch out for and which holes to be aggressive on. You have to hit the ball in the fairway. That's the key to that course."
Wolfes leads the league in stroke average with a mark of 71.50, has won two tournaments and posted six top-5 finishes this season. Anderson ranks 11th in the league in stroke average (73.76) and has placed in the top-10 three times.
Sophomore Charlie Martin owns a 74.27 stroke average and has four top-15 finishes, and junior Will Evans has a 74.59 stroke average and three top-15 outings. Junior Christian Humber will play in the fifth spot. He has competed in two tournaments this season, posting a 226 at the Mason Rudolph Championship back in September and a 241 at the Schenkel Invitational in March.
"It's going to be about hitting it straight and keeping it out of the wind, more than likely," said Evans. "The key for me is managing my game. I've been hitting the ball well, and I don't need to putt outstanding, I just need to stay away from making mistakes."
The top returning finishers from the 2012 tournament are Chattanooga's Chris Robb and Wofford's Brennan Hudson, who were runners-up a year ago.
Also returning for this season's championship are Chattanooga's Steven Fox, Wolfes and Samford's Casey O'Toole, who were among a six-way tie for fourth last year. Fox is the reigning U.S. Amateur champion and competed in the Masters last weekend. O'Toole earned an individual NCAA berth last season.
The Eagles tee off at 10:30 a.m.
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