INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - The no. 4/4 Carson-Newman men's golf team claimed the no. one overall spot in the NCAA Southeast Regional, announced on Friday, Apr. 22.
The Eagles were ranked as the no. one overall team in the region in all three region polls, claiming the top spot over fellow SAC members no. 2 Lincoln Memorial, no. 6 Limestone and no. 9 Queens. The Eagles are joined by no. 3 USC-Aiken, no. 4 North Georgia, no. 5 Georgia Southwestern and no. 7 Columbus State of the Peach Belt Conference, along with no. 8 Barton and no. 10 King of the Conference Carolinas.
The convocation earned their top ranking with stellar performances this season, finishing no lower than fifth at any tournament in both the fall or spring.
The Carson-Newman men's golf team recorded two event wins this season, beginning with a win at the Queens Fall Invitational. The Eagles' three round total of 827 was just enough to edge out the University of South Carolina Aiken by one stroke and give the Eagles sole possession of first place. The win was the first for coach Randy Wylie's program since taking the UNG Fall Invitational in October of 2019.
The Eagles were not done, as they went on to win the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate in the spring. C-N shot 29-under par for the entire two-round tournament, shooting a 547 and defeating Division-I Oral Roberts by 12 strokes. The second round 272 score is the lowest team round score in the history of the Bobby Nichols Intercollegiate tournament, beating out the previous best score of 274 set by Carson-Newman in the second round of the 2017 event by two strokes. The team's 36-hole score of 547 beats the previous best 36-hole score set by UT Martin in 2013 of 593 by 46 strokes.
The 272 second round score is the third lowest round in SAC history for men's golf. Elliot MacGregor won the individual championship with a nine-under 135, a new record for lowest two round score in tournament history.
Individually, MacGregor was named SAC Freshman of the Year. Along with his Bobby Nichols championship, MacGregor recorded two top-20 finishes and was ranked inside the Golfstat Top 150 for three weeks during the 2022 spring season.
Jonathan Nielsen earned first-team All-Conference honors for the Eagles. The Hørsholm, Denmark native set a new course record at the Atlanta Country Club earlier this season, with a nine-under, 63 in the second round of the Southern Tide Intercollegiate. Nielsen went on to win the individual event championship at the tournament with a seven-under 209 for the week. He is ranked 12th in all of Division-II according to Golfstat with average one-under 71.29 this season.
This is the first time that Carson-Newman men's golf will compete in the postseason since the 2019 South/Southeast Regional.
The Eagles were five shots shy of snagging a spot in the finals heading into the day after landing in a tie for 11th in the second round. The comeback bid ended three shots out of the seventh-place qualifying position with a 12-over day. The Orange and Blue made it as high as a tie for fifth in the round but fell below the line after a weather delay that lasted just over an hour and a half.
It was the best finish for the Eagles in the regional since a sixth-place finish in 2008. They went 40-over for the event with a 904 total.
Tom Forester led the Eagles with an eight-over 224 for the week to finish tied for 23rd overall.
The NCAA Southeast and the South Regional will be held May 5-7 at the Kinderlou Forest Golf Club in Valdosta, Ga.
At a minimum, the top three teams and the top two student-athletes not with a team from each regional will advance to the finals May 16-20 at TPC Michigan in Detroit, Michigan. The remaining eight team berths will be allocated based on the regions represented in the prior year's head-to-head medal play portion of the championships, with the maximum number of teams from a given region capped at seven. The finals will be hosted by Wayne State (Michigan) and the Detroit Sports Commission.
A total of 80 teams and 32 student-athletes competing as individuals that have been selected to participate in regional competition of the 2022 NCAA Division II Men's Golf Championships.
Fans can keep up with all of the action at cneagles.com
