JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – The 19th-ranked Carson-Newman men's golf team opens the 2016 portion of its schedule with a trip to The Golf Club at Fleming Island Planation for the Spring Kickoff Intercollegiate, which is hosted by South Atlantic Conference rival Lincoln Memorial.
The Eagles are one of three ranked teams appearing in the Spring Kickoff Intercollegiate with a fourth school receiving votes in the latest edition of the Golf Coaches Association of America poll. Tenth-ranked West Georgia, Carson-Newman and host LMU, who is ranked 24th, comprise the three ranked teams while the Lander Bearcats are receiving votes.
"We are very excited to start our spring season in Florida at Fleming Island," coach Randy Wylie said. "Our travel squad in this event is very experienced and is the core that helped us compete at at a very high level this past fall. The challenge is now to keep improving."
Last season, the Eagles finished sixth in the event and fell 34 strokes behind the West Georgia Wolves, who won the event. Senior Nicklaus Kennedy (London, Ontario, Canada) led the C-N with a sixth-place showing and five strokes off the leaders. Senior Andrew Hall (Knoxville, Tenn.) was the second-best finisher on the team with a tie for 13th.
Kennedy and Hall will both participate in the 2016 Spring Kickoff Intercollegiate and they will be joined by junior Dalton Reese (Warrenton, Ga.), senior Jace DeVault (Bluff City, Tenn.) and freshman Jake Headrick (Maryville, Tenn.); freshman Grant Bodie (Knoxville, Tenn.) will compete as an individual in the tournament.
Kennedy shot an average round of 73.7 during the fall and played in all five of the Eagles' tournaments; his best finish was a tie for 13th at the season-opening Kiawah Island Invitational where he finished one-over par. Hall's fall was well documented as one of the best in SAC history. He averaged 69.6 strokes per round, set and then tied a SAC record by finishing two events at 14-under and registered a win at the University of North Georgia Invitational.
Thus far in the season, Reese owns the team's lowest-round of the year with a final round 65 at the State Farm Intercollegiate, which propelled him to a fourth-place finish in the event. This season, the junior is averaging 72.3 strokes per round in 12 rounds of play. Devault averaged a score of 72.6 during the fall in all five of the team's rounds. His best finish was a tie for seventh at the UNG Invitational and his low round was a 69 during the first round of the North Georgia event.
Headrick's best finish of the fall was a tie for 17th at the State Farm Intercollegiate that LMU hosted in October; his low round of the year thus far is a four-under 68 at the Saint Leo's Men's Invitational. Headrick played in every tournament during the fall portion of the schedule. Bodie is appearing in his first competition as an Eagle; his last appearance in a team was a TSSAA Division-II State Championship win with the Webb School of Knoxville Spartans.
Joining the Eagles, Wolves, Railsplitters and Bearcats at the Spring Kickoff is: Southern Wesleyan, Wingate, Montevallo, West Alabama, Armstrong State, Brevard, Barton, Belmont Abbey, North Greenville, Palm Beach Atlantic, University of Virginia – Wise, West Alabama and Coker. Five of the teams competing are from the SAC.
The Golf Club at Fleming Island Plantation has a diverse landscape that allows for two distinctly different nines. The front nine of the golf course is wide open with waste areas and wetlands to create a classic links feeling. In contrast, the back nine was carved from dense forests, giving a more secluded atmosphere. There are sand bunkers strategically placed across the rolling landscape and water comes into play throughout. The fairways on this golf course are misleading, they are not as tight as they seem from the tees. From the tips, the course plays at par-71, 6,688-yard.
The three-round, 54-hole tournament tees off on Monday morning with the first of two rounds slated to be played. A full rundown and stats from each day will be available on cneagles.com following the conclusion of the rounds.
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