Posted: Feb 13, 2019

Men’s golf picked as preseason favorite in USA South poll

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. – The Huntingdon men's golf team is the preseason favorite with the release of the USA South Athletic Conference preseason poll on Wednesday.

This is the third straight season Huntingdon has been named the preseason No. 1.

Huntingdon received 10 first-place votes and totaled 100 points in the poll. Methodist, the defending national champion, picked up one first-place vote and 89 points. North Carolina Wesleyan, the defending conference champion, is third with 77 points.

Behind the top three, Greensboro is fourth with 71 points and LaGrange rounds out the top five with 67 points.

Huntingdon, which tied for 11th in the NCAA Tournament last season, is one of five USA South teams ranked in two national polls. The Hawks are ranked second in the Bushnell Golfweek Division III Coaches Poll. Methodist is eighth, North Carolina Wesleyan is 12^th, Greensboro is 15^th and LaGrange is 16^th in the Bushnell poll.

All five teams are also ranked in the Golfstat National Top-25. The Hawks are fourth in the poll, followed by Methodist in ninth, North Carolina Wesleyan in 12^th, LaGrange in 17^th and Greensboro in 18th

Huntingdon opens the spring season in the Callaway Gardens Invitational on March 4-5.

The complete USA South poll is listed below.

USA South Preseason Men's Golf Poll

1. Huntingdon (10 first-place votes), 100 points

2. Methodist (1), 89 points

3. N.C. Wesleyan, 77 points

4. Greensboro, 71 points

5. LaGrange, 67 points

6. Maryville, 59 points

7. Covenant, 42 points

8. Averett, 36 points

9. Piedmont, 35 points