Tournament 11: SoCon Championships
Dates: April 20-22 | Format: 18 per day
Host: SoCon | Location: Lake Oconee Village, Ga.
Course: Oconee Course | Par: 72 | Yards: 7,393
Field: (67) Chattanooga, (90) ETSU, (57) Furman, Mercer, (85) UNCG, Samford, Western Carolina & Wofford
 
Resources: Results | Stats/Notes | About Chattanooga Golf
 
First Look: The Chattanooga Mocs are third after 18 holes at the Southern Conference Golf Championships in Lake Oconee Village, Ga. The group combined for a 3-under 285 at the Oconee Course.
 
Garrett Engle carried the day for the Mocs. His 6-under 66 sits atop the leaderboard by two. It ties his career low by total but is his best effort vs par. The previous 66 came at Pasatiempo in the 2024 Western Intercollegiate.
 
A trio of Mocs completed the team card with 1-over par 73s. They included Camden Braidech, Dalton Chuba and Braedon Wear. Ethan Whitaker registered the drop score with 74.
 
Playing partner UNCG has the lead heading into Monday. The Spartans shot 277 which provides a 3-shot cushion over ETSU. The Mocs follow ahead of Western Carolina's 1-under 287. Mercer and Furman are tied in fifth with 288, one better than Samford in seventh. Wofford is eighth at 297.
 
First Thought: "I thought we were a little sloppy today. We didn't take advantage of some scorable stretches, and that put us behind early. I'm proud of the way we played 18 with 1 under from our counters. That was huge in keeping us in this tournament." – Coach Blaine Woodruff on Day 1
 
How to Follow
Scoring: Scoreboard
Socials: Twitter/X: @GoMocsMGLF | Instagram: @GoMocsMGLF
 
Scores
1) UNCG: 277 (-11)
2) ETSU: 280 (-8)
3) Chattanooga: 285 (-3)
4) Western Carolina: 287 (-1)
5) Mercer: 288 (E)
tie) Furman: 288 (E)
7) Samford: 289 (+1)
8) Wofford: 297 (+9)
 
1) Garrett Engle: 66 (-6)
T24) Camden Braidech: 73 (+1)
T24) Dalton Chuba: 73 (+1)
T24) Braedon Wear: 73 (+1)
T24) Ethan Whitaker: 74 (+2)
 
What to Know

• Engle shot 33 (-3) on both nines. Bounced back from a tough double bogey on 14 to birdie two of the last four holes.
• Engle was on 59 watch early with three straight birdies on 2, 3 & 4. Also had three straight birds on 10, 11 & 12.
• Career-high nine birdies for Engle. The team recorded 15 on the counting cards. Played par or better on 87.5 percent of the holes (63/72).
• Team made the turn 4 under and played the backside 1 over.
• Played under par on eight of the 18 holes: Par 4 2nd (-2), Par 4 4th (-1), par 5 7th (-2), par 5 10th (-2), par 4 11th (-2), par 4 16th (-1), par 5 17th (-2) and par 4 18th (-1).
• 1 under on the 18th was easily the best score in the field. 2 over from ETSU, Mercer, Furman & Samford was second.
• 6 under on the four par 5s and 5 under on the par 4s. 8 over on the par 3s.
• Last year's squad started 4 under (284) before shooting 24 under over the last two days in a narrow runner-up finish to ETSU.
• 8th straight par or better team round at the Oconee Course. 58 under for those eight cards, a 280.75 average.
• Six of the eight teams shot par or better with six under par.
• The Mocs are paired in round two with Western Carolina. Tee times start at 9:05 a.m., off No. 1.

 
Final Thoughts
"Huge round from 'G' to pick up the slack for us today. Nine birdies is pretty impressive." – Woodruff on the first round leader
 
"This isn't an unfamiliar spot for us. We've kind of been the charge from behind group all year. We're excited to have another shot at it tomorrow under what looks like some tougher conditions." – Woodruff on heading into Monday's 2nd round
 
Mocs is SoCon Championships
Champions (6) 
1987: Charlotte, N.C. | 309-299-317=925 (+61)
2007: Florence, S.C. | 293-80-291=864 (E)
2008: Florence, S.C. | 290-281-294=865 (+1)
2009: Florence, S.C. | 279-287-286-852 (-12)
2012: Daniel Isl., S.C. | 294-286--281=861 (-3)
2013: Daniel Isl., S.C. | 298-290-296=884 (+20)
 
Runners-up (7)
1978: Florence, S.C. | 388-388-365=1161
1989: Charlotte, N.C. | 298-293-298=889 (+25)
1993: Charlotte, N.C. | 301-302-300=903 (+39)
2014: Pinehurst, N.C. | 297-284-293=874 (+10)
2018: Pinehurst, N.C. | 290-304-293=887 (+23)
2023: Eatonton, Ga. | 277-279-283=839 (-25)
2024: Eatonton, Ga. | 284-274-278=836 (-28)
 
Medalists (2)    
1978: Donnie Green | 74-73-74=221 (+5)
2012: Stephan Jaeger | 66-72-69=207 (-9)
 
Next Up
April 30: NCAA Golf Selection Show | Golf Channel | 1 p.m.
 
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