VIDEO: Randy Wylie Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – With two top-three finishes in the fall, including a win at the North Georgia Fall Invitational, No. 24 Carson-Newman gears up for a five-tournament spring slate that paves the way to the South Atlantic Conference championship in late April.
C-N coach Randy Wylie unveiled the slate on Friday that will take the Eagles back to four events they have competed in during each of the past five seasons. Of those tournaments, the team has racked up nine top-3 finishes since 2016 with two of those being victories.
"I knew we were going to have a pretty solid team with some veterans so I wanted to play some of the courses that we've played well on in the past," Wylie said. "Also wanted to make sure we were playing some of the best teams in the country, so our strength of schedule and the guys are challenged, those two things are both heading in the right direction."
The spring starts with a trip to St. Augustine, Fla. for the Spring Kickoff Intercollegiate on Feb. 10 and 11. This is the eighth-straight season the Eagles will be taking part in the event, this year hosted by Lincoln Memorial and Wingate. Last year's third-place finish in the event was the best mark the Eagles have seen in the tournament since they finished in second back in 2016.
Two weeks later, C-N heads south once again, this time to Albany, Ga., for the Hurricane Invitational at the Doublegate Country Club, the team's first appearance in Georgia Southwestern's event. Last year, Southern Arkansas led the field with a four-over showing at 868 while Georgia Southwestern and Young Harris tied for second at seven-over.
"It will be really good region teams, including the host is a top five team in Georgia Southwestern," Wylie said. "It'll be a great challenge for us, and I've heard nothing but really, really good things about the golf course."
The three-tournament month of March kicks off with the three-day Panther Invitational in Melbourne, Fla., beginning on March 1. Carson-Newman has taken part in the event twice since its first appearance in 2017 when it finished in sixth. The most recent showing in 2018 resulted in a fourth-place finish after the Eagles made a 19-shot improvement from the second to third round to go 29-over with three players in the top 20 of the field.
Carson-Newman takes on a three-event trip around East Tennessee, starting with a short 25-mile drive to the Sevierville Golf Club for the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate, hosted once against by Division I team Tennessee Tech, from March 15-17. In its five appearances in the event that takes place at its primary home course, C-N has landed in the top five in each of its last four trips, staying in the top three for the past three seasons.
The Eagles have felt right at home in the event with 12 players landing in the top 20 throughout the last three seasons. Tom Forster (Oundle, England) was the last Eagle to win the event back in 2018 when he carded a 203, a score that stands as the fifth-lowest 54-hole score in conference history. Before him, Jake Headrick turned in a first-place performance in 2017 that helped the Eagles to win the event by 25 strokes, sitting at 17-under by the end of the three days.
The regular season wraps up in Lenoir City, Tenn. at the Tennessee River Rumble, a two-day event starting on March 30. C-N has finished in the top five in each of its five appearances at LMU's event. Each year aside from 2018, there have been at least two Eagles in the top 10 of the field. Since 2016, C-N has either taken winner or runner-up in the tournament with wins in 2017 and 2018.
A three-week respite will give the Eagles plenty of time to prepare for the SAC Championship, this year hosted by Lincoln Memorial, in nearby Tazewell, Tenn. at the Woodlake Golf Club from April 19-21.
Since winning its first of four SAC crowns back in 2004, the Orange and Blue have finished in the top five in all but one season with 10 top-three outings. The Eagles have had two top medalists in that span, the first being Tanner Davis in 2004 and Tom Forster back in 2018.
Carson-Newman looks to make its way back to the NCAA South/Southeast Regional for the eighth time since 2008 and the fifth-straight since 2016. This year's regional will happen at the Irene Golf Club in Memphis, Tenn. in early May, paving the road to the National Final set to take place at the Country Club of St. Albans in St. Louis, Mo.
"We feel like we have the ability and the talent and the schedule to make the NCAA Tournament," Wylie said. "First thing's first, we want to play well through the spring, win the conference championship, that's always a major goal for us, and then, you know, we can deal with NCAA after that."
Since the recent streak began, C-N has landed in the top 10 three-straight years with last year's eighth-place showing being the highest finish for the team since 2008 when it took sixth. Tom Forster was the last Eagle to surpass the regional stage and make it to the national final when he tied for 63rd in the 2018 National Championship.
Full recaps with results will follow each and every day of tournament play throughout the spring on cneagles.com with updates coming through @CNathletics on Twitter.
