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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