Golf: Panthers tied for 20th in Bushnell/Golfweek Coaches Preseason poll

Golf: Panthers tied for 20th in Bushnell/Golfweek Coaches Preseason poll

The LaGrange College golf team is tied for 20th in the Bushnell/Golfweek Coaches Preseason poll. Illinois Wesleyan, two-time defending NCAA Division III champ, is ranked first in the poll. The Titans received eight of 10 first-place votes.

The Panthers are in their first season under new Head Coach Shannon Lipham. Lipham arrives from Point University where he served as the director of golf since January. Prior to that, he worked as an assistant coach for the Skyhawks and general manager at Point University Golf Club in Lanett, Alabama, from 2018–20.

Point was ranked first in the country in the Golfstat NAIA team rankings, NAIA Coaches poll and NAIA Bushnell Golfweek Coaches poll. The Skyhawks were fourth at the NAIA national championship and won their fourth consecutive Appalachian Athletic Conference championship. 

The Panthers return senior Jay Adams for 2021-22. Adams was selected to the USA South All-Conference second team.

LC was one of six USA South schools in the poll. Methodist, the national runer-up, was second. Huntingdon (4), Piedmont (7), Greensboro (12) and Averett (17) were also ranked.

The Panthers play the first of their four fall tournaments Sept. 12-13 at the Rhodes College Fall Collegiate Classic. The tournament is held at the Tunica National Golf Course in Tunica, Mississippi.

Bushnell/Golfweek Division III Coaches' Poll - Preseason

Rank

University (First Place Votes)

Points

NCAA Finish

1

Illinois Wesleyan (8)

220

Champion

2

Methodist (1)

211

2

3

Guilford

201

3

4

Huntingdon (1)

196

5

5

Carnegie Mellon

188

4

6

Emory

169

6

7

Piedmont

141

13

8

Washington & Lee

123

DNQ

9

Denison

121

7

10

Trinity (TX)

114

T-11

11

Christopher Newport

107

8

12

Greensboro

103

DNQ

13

Wittenberg

88

DNQ

14

St. Thomas (MN)

78

10

15

Redlands

72

DNQ

16

UT Dallas

68

DNQ

17

Averett

67

DNQ

18

Oglethorpe

60

DNQ

19

McMurry

59

DNQ

T-20

LaGrange

44

DNQ

T-20

Claremont-Mudd-Scripps

44

DNG

22

Hampden-Sydney

39

DNQ

23

Sewanee

37

24

24

Willamette

36

T-11

T-25

Concordia (TX)

34

DNQ

T-25

 Mary Hardin-Baylor

 34

 18

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