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 Ricky Stout posted a career-best, sixth-place finish a year ago at the Southern Conference Championship. |
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April 18, 2009
Southern Conference Men's Golf Championship - Round 1 Tee Times 
Cullowhee, N.C. - Coming off of last year's third-place finish, the Western Carolina Catamount men's golf team will set its sights on the program's first-ever Southern Conference title as the 73rd-edition of the annual SoCon Men's Golf Championship gets underway at the Country Club of South Carolina in Florence.
The 54-hole championship event will be spread over three days beginning on Sunday, with a practice round to be held Saturday. The tournament has been played every season since 1933, aside from a four-year hiatus during World War II, and the event boasts past champions such as Arnold Palmer (1948-49) and Brad Faxon (1983).
The winner of the SoCon Championship will earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Regional.
"You play all year long in an effort to get ready for the conference tournament," said WCU head coach Gorham Bradley. "I feel as a team, we have come a long way in terms of development through the course of this season. Our goals are to play our best golf when conference rolls around - we have definitely grasped that concept and are looking forward to trying to bring a championship home to Cullowhee."
The Catamounts will look to build upon last year's third-place overall finish, the second-best in school history after the 1986 squad finished second. WCU has had the individual medalist four times in event history, with former standout - and program's all-time leading scorer - Matt Cook becoming just the eighth men's golfer in league history to win the individual championship multiple times with last year's medalist honors.
Last year's finish helped springboard WCU into the NCAA men's golf championship field with the program's first-ever, at-large bid.
This year, the SoCon boasts three teams in the top 100 in terms of division ranking, with favorites Chattanooga (31st) and Georgia Southern (54th) ranking among the national leaders in the GolfStat rankings. The two schools combined for five team championships this season, including three by GSU alone.
Bradley feels the play in recent weeks from his squad has put the Catamounts back into contention entering the weekend play.
"I couldn't be more pleased with the way things have worked out. We've come a long way," said Bradley. "We have improved our play, but more importantly, our attitude has been outstanding. We gained a lot of confidence out in Arizona (Wyoming's Cowboy Classic) and carried that over to Kentucky (UK Bluegrass Classic, finished 2nd). It should really make things interesting this weekend."
Western Carolina's five golfers at this year's championship all posted stroke averages of 75.60-or-better, led by senior Andres Cuenca at 73.64 - ninth in the SoCon this season. The lone player to have garnered All-SoCon honors, Cuenca, has recorded finishes of 11th in 2007 and 22nd last year.
"This team has more depth from top to bottom than any other team we've had in recent memory,' Bradley said. "To win the championship, it is going to take strong play from our leader, Andres Cuenca. But, we have support and all five guys will have a chance to contribute to us winning the championship."
In addition to Cuenca, junior Ricky Stout and senior Dustin Furnari are two other Catamounts with experience at the SoCon Championship. Stout posted a career-best sixth-place finish last season with Furnari finishing 30th. Freshman Martin Summer will round out WCU's five golfers at the event, with the top four scores from each day counting towards the team score.
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"The key for us is to be in the thick of things going into the final round. We are going in with the mindset to be in contention entering the final round. Positioning and making good decisions through the first two rounds," added Bradley.
The 54-hole, three-day event will be played at the Country Club of South Carolina which is located in Florence. The course will play with a par 72 and a distance of 7,062 yards. Back in mid-September, the Catamounts competed in the Raines Development Group Intercollegiate, hosted by Francis Marion, at the same course. WCU shot 888 with Cuenca shooting 212 to finish fifth after opening with consecutive rounds of 68 and 67 - the latter of which is his career-low.
"The course sets up great for us - we had four rounds to get to know the course (in the fall). Bottom line, this team makes a lot of pars and it could come down to us needing to par the last hole to win the title."
The tournament tees off at 8:00 am Sunday morning, and fans can follow the action at www.golfstatresults.com.
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