HICKORY, N.C. --- The Tusculum University men's golf team will be competing this week at the 2023 South Atlantic Conference Championship at Lake Hickory Country Club.
The three-day, 54-hole tournament will be conducted this Sunday, Monday and Tuesday on the par-72, 6,605-yard layout and hosted by Lenoir-Rhyne University. This will mark the fifth time the SAC Championship has been held at Lake Hickory Country Club (2005, 2006, 2007, 2008).
The Pioneers, under the guidance of first-year head coach Hunter Chandley, have accounted for five top-5 finishes in their nine events this year. Tusculum opened the season by winning the King Invitational last fall. Two of those performances have come in their last two events including a runner-up showing at the Bob Dibble Intercollegiate and third-place honors at the Findlay Spring Invitational.
Junior Liam van Deventer (Boksburg, Gauteng, South Africa) owns the lowest scoring average on the roster at 72.79. Van Deventer, who rejoined the team at the start of the spring semester, has posted three top-20 finishes in his five events including third place honors at the Dibble Intercollegiate where he carded a one-under par 68-73=141. He tied for 16th place at the Findlay Spring Invitational (72-71-75=218) and 20th at the Barton Spring Bulldog Clash (71-71-72=214).
This will be van Deventer's third SAC Championship appearance. He finished 35th at the 2021 league tournament and tied for 32nd at last year's championship. His 73.69 career stroke average is the third lowest in program history.
Freshman Nicholas Taggart (Katy, Texas) is second on the team with his 73.88 average which is currently the second-lowest ever by a TU rookie. He has played in nine events where he has five top-20 finishes including four times in the top-10. His best showing came in his collegiate debut where he tied for fifth at the King Invitational with 70-70=140 (E). He tied for seventh place at the Barton Clash with a 54-hole low 72-67-71=210. He also tied for eighth place at the Dibble Intercollegiate (71-73=144).
Senior Thomas Kollberg (Wimborne, England) has competed in eight tournaments this year where he has a 74.19 stroke average. He has finished in the top-20 on four occasions including three times in the top-five. He opened the season with a bang, capturing medalist honors at the King Invitational with a four-under par total 69-67=136. He earned a spot on the All-Tournament team at the Richard Rendleman Invitational with 71-78=149 to tie for fifth place. Kollberg is coming off a his best 54-hole round of his career with a six-under par 210 at the Findlay Invitational where he finished third with 71-69-70=210.
Kollberg finished 26th at last year's SAC Championship (80-73-78=231) and enters this week's league tournament with a 74.50 stroke average (6th in TU history).
Senior Riley Brown (Peoria, Ariz.) has a 74.52 scoring average in his nine tournaments this season which includes four top-20 performances as well as a pair of top-five finishes. He finished fourth at the Dibble Intercollegiate (71-71=142) and fifth at the Walters State Fall Classic (71-78=149). This will be his first SAC Championship appearance and enters this week's action with a 74.70 career average (7th in TU history).
Junior Isak Holter (Trondheim, Norway) has a 75.90 stroke average this season in his four previous tournaments. He has been one of the hottest TU golfers of late where he has a 71.40 scoring average in his last five competitive rounds. He finished runner-up at the Dibble Intercollegiate with 70-69=139 (-3) and tied for 16th at the Findlay Invitational (72-76-70=218). Holter qualified for the SAC Championship in his 2021 rookie campaign where he finished 53rd (82-77-78=237).
Tusculum will be vying for its second SAC Championship with the first coming in 2015. The Pioneers have also recorded three runner-up finishes (2005, 2007, 2011) at the league tournament including two times when the event was held at Lake Hickory in 2005 and 2007.
