Overview
The Chattanooga Mocs men's golf team jumped into an early lead behind junior Camden Braidech at the Southern Conference Championships. Braidech's 5-under 66 has him tied for the individual lead with Mercer's Nathan Trodd. It powered the Mocs to a 9-under 275 for a 5-stroke lead over Western Carolina after 18 holes.
 
Quotable
"Really proud of how the guys turned it around as a whole after a tough start. The back nine is a little bit more gettable, which helps after the first few holes. The guys played free and confident which is more of what we'd like to have seen from the start. The good thing is that I feel like we left out there that we're going to clean up and make sure we're ready for tomorrow." – Coach Blaine Woodruff on today's effort
 
"Coming into the week, I wasn't really doing much well. Wasn't swinging it well, wasn't putting well. Even in warm-up today, it wasn't great. I just kind of came in with no expectations. I was trying to take it one shot at a time and see what happens. It kind of got going and feeling good and at the end of the day, it was 5 under." – Braidech on his day
 
"These guys really want this conference title. All of us, and you know with that comes the battle of expectations, especially when you're the highest ranked team and on paper you're supposed to do it. It was cool and windy to start, and we were trying way too hard at the beginning. The guys made it way too big, but they did a really good job of flipping the switch after the first four or five holes." – Woodruff on early "jitters"
 
Tourney 11: Southern Con Championships
Dates: April 27-29 | Format: 18/day | Host: SoCon
Course: Solina GC | Columbia, S.C. | Par 71 | 6,766 yds
Field: (67) Chattanooga, (81) ETSU, Furman, Mercer, UNCG, Samford, Western Carolina & Wofford
Resources: Stats/Notes | Scoring
 
1) Chattanooga: 275 (-9)
2) Western Carolina: 280 (-4)
3) ETSU: 282 (-2)
4) Samford: 283 (-1)
5) Furman: 285 (+1)
6) Mercer: 288 (+4)
7) UNCG: 289 (+5)
8) Wofford: 294 (+10)
Mocs in the Field:
T1) Camden Braidech: 66 (-5)
T4) Evan Rogers: 68 (-3)
T11) Ethan Whitaker: 70 (-1)
T15) Ward Harris: 71 (E)
T28) Griffin Law: 74 (+3)
 
Breakdown

• Started well with two birdies and three pars on the first hole but then the struggles began. The squad was 3 over through eight holes before a scintillating run.
• The Mocs played holes 9 (-1), 10 (-3), 11 (-4), 12 (-2) and 13 (-1) under par to go from middle of the pack to top of the leaderboard at 8 under. The par 4 14th bit back before four birdies over holes 15-17 pushed the squad to 10 under before settling at minus nine.
• Braidech led with 66 shooting 33 per side. Rogers added 68 to the team tally followed by Whitaker at 70 and Harris with 71. Law had the drop score of 74.
• His 66 ties Stephan Jaeger (2012) and Garrett Engle (2025) for the lowest first round scores and tied for third lowest over any 18 by a Moc in the SoCon Championships.
• The counting cards posted an eagle and 21 birdies.
• Whitaker had a team-high seven birdies riding the rollercoaster recording six pars.
• The 11 under score on the back nine was best in the field ahead of ETSU (-10) and Western Carolina (-2). All five Mocs were under par on this side: Braidech (-4), Rogers (-4), Harris (-2), Whitaker (-1) and Law (-1).
• 2 over on the stingier front side ranked fourth behind the Catamounts (-2), Samford (E) and Furman (+1).
• 275 is the best first round total in program history in the event by two shots. The 2023 squad opened with 277 (-11) at the Oconee Course.
• 275 is the second lowest 18-hole score behind 274 in round two in 2024.
• 9 under for the seventh time. Six of those are during Woodruff's tenure.
• 42 under over last 12 team cards (-3.5/rd).
• 11 of the last 12 team cards are par or better.

 
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