Coastal Carolina men’s golf coach Jacob Wilner is making use of the plethora of quality golf courses in the Myrtle Beach market by hosting a second tournament this year.
The inaugural MyrtleBeachGolfTrips.com Intercollegiate is being held Sunday to Tuesday at the Grande Dunes Resort Course, and begins CCU’s 2024-25 season.
Joining CCU in the event are 13 other schools: Appalachian State, Campbell, East Carolina, Elon, Florida Atlantic, Jacksonville, James Madison, Maryland, Old Dominion, Santa Clara, Texas El Paso, Texas State and Western Carolina.
“In my 17th year of coaching you just have relationships, and you want to get guys you’ve known throughout the years,” Wilner said of the tournament’s invitees. “I’m actually very happy with the quality of the field for the first year. We anticipate this event to go well and have it grow over the years.”
The event will have approximately 90 players and is open to spectators for free with scheduled tee times between 8-10:20 a.m. each day.
“We’ve been working on this for over a year. I think it was kind of a no-brainer to host another tournament,“ said Wilner, who also hosts the 23-year General Hackler Championship at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club each March. “It’s on a golf course that’s considered pretty much a home golf course that we have access to, we feel this time of year it’s good to invite [13] visiting teams, the weather’s good, the course is in pretty good shape.“
Wilner hopes to continue holding the event at Grande Dunes for many years to come.
The timing makes sense for course owner and operator Founders Group International as it’s a slower week just before the onset of the fall golf season.
“I think it works out well for Founders, it works out well for Myrtle Beach Golf Trips, and it certainly works out well for Coastal Carolina men’s golf,” said Wilner, a 2001 CCU grad.
The Grande Dunes Resort Course is hosting a CCU men’s tournament for the second time. The inaugural Hackler Championship was held at the course in 2002 before it moved to TPC Myrtle Beach and eventually The Dunes Golf and Beach Club, where it has been held the past 10 years.
CCU’s starting lineup consists of true freshman Drew Sykes of England, senior Trey Crenshaw of Lancaster, junior Owen Kim of Ontario, Canada, freshman Coleman Ferguson from A.C. Flora High in Columbia, and junior Minnesota State Mankato transfer Max Brud.
Sykes won eight rounds of intrasquad qualifying to earn the No.1 spot this week.
“I think his game is built for college golf,” Wilner said of Sykes. “He hits it hard, he hits it high, an incredible ball-striker, very high golf IQ. For him to have never seen the United States in his life and comes out here and wins an eight-round qualifier, it’s pretty impressive.”
Crenshaw, who has a college win in the 2022 Golfweek Challenge in Pawleys Island as a sophomore, when he set a program record with an 18-under par score, had a strong summer with top-10 finishes in both the South Carolina Open and Palmetto Amateur Championship.
Three of the four players who are new to the team this season are in the initial starting lineup.
“We’re happy with the guys we have coming in and also the development of the returners,” Wilner said. “So I think we’re in a good spot and now it’s time to just get out there and put a tee in the ground and go play some good golf.”
Four players who are playing as individuals for CCU this week are junior Tarleton State transfer Max Bengtsson of Sweden, sophomore Jack Lee of England, senior Trace McDonald of Columbia, and senior Ludvig Eriksson of Sweden, who transferred from Mississippi prior to last season.
“I think our biggest asset this year is our depth,” Wilner said. “We have nine guys that are experienced and I think there’s probably going to be a little bit of movement in our lineup this year. I think we have guys that are bringing it, and it’s not going to be these five guys are playing every event from what I’ve seen so far, and I think that’s a good thing.”
Wilner has a new assistant coach this season in Sam Harned, who played for him for four years at Nevada (2017-21) and served as the team captain from 2019-21. Harned is in his first year of coaching and replaces three-year CCU assistant Yoshio Yamamoto, who is now an assistant for South Carolina women’s coach Kalen Anderson.
Live scoring is available at golfstat.com, with a link at www.GoCCUSports.com.
Golfweek Challenge teeing off
Also teeing off Sunday on the Grand Strand is the Golfweek Fall Challenge at Caledonia Golf & Fish Club and True Blue Golf Club in Pawleys Island.
Eighteen women’s college teams will compete at Caledonia while 15 men’s teams will play at True Blue in the 54-hole events that will conclude Tuesday.
The men’s field will feature Loyola-Chicago, New Orleans, Presbyterian College, Charleston Southern, Texas-Arlington, Mercer, North Carolina A&T, Arkansas State, Austin Peay, Richmond, Seton Hall, Stephen F. Austin State, USC Upstate, Wright State and Stetson.
The women’s field features defending champion UNC Wilmington as well as Florida Atlantic, Stephen F. Austin State, Tennessee Tech, UNC Greensboro, Charleston Southern, Dartmouth, Boise State, Charlotte, High Point, New Mexico State, Queens University, UAB, Campbell, North Carolina A&T, Arkansas State, Morehead State and USC Upstate.
