GREENVILLE, S.C. --- The Tusculum University men's golf team will be competing at the 2025 South Atlantic Conference Championship next week at The Preserve at Verdae. The three-day, 54-hole tournament will be held on the par-72, 7,021-yard layout and will be played on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday of the coming week.
The Pioneers have recorded five top-10 finishes this season including one tournament victory, that coming at the King Invitational to open the fall campaign.
Leading the charge for the Pioneers is senior Liam van Deventer (Boksburg, South Africa) who has a team-best 73.81 scoring average. He has recorded three top-30 performances including a third-place finish at the King Invitational where he shot 68-68=136 (-4) and earned a spot on the All-Tournament Team. He also tied for 19th place at last month's Tennessee River Rumble with a 54-hole total 73-72-75=220.
Sunday's opening round will be the 95th of van Deventer's career which will establish a new Tusculum record. His 73.91 career scoring average is the fourth-lowest ever by a Pioneer. In his 34 career events, he has finished in the top-20 on 14 occasions including six top-5 finishes which are tied for 10th in school history. He will be competing in his third SAC Championship next week. He finished 35th in 2021 with 78-75-73=226 and 32nd at the 2022 with 75-76-70=221.
Senior Blake Williams (Lone Tree, Colo.) is second on the roster with his 74.21 stroke average in his seven events where he has a team-best four finishes in the top-25. He finished 12th at the King Invitational (67-72=139), 14th at the Lenoir-Rhyne Invitational (76-74-72=222), 17th at the Bearcat Classic (71-70-75=216) and 23rd at the Oldfield Classic (74-75-73=222).
Williams enters his final SAC Championship with a 73.97 career scoring average which is the fourth-lowest by a Pioneer. In his 24 career tournaments, he has accounted for 10 finishes in the top-20 including four times in the top-10 and twice in the top-five. At last year's SAC Tournament, he shot 77-73-81=231 to tie for 43rd place.
Senior Liam Hermansson (Stockholm, Sweden) will be playing in his second SAC Championship, but first since his 2021-22 rookie campaign. In his four events this year, he has a 75.00 scoring average with his best performance coming at last month's Bearcat Classic where he carded a two-under par total 71-72-71=214 to tie for 10th place.
Hermansson has lowered his career stroke average to 75.77 which ranks 19th lowest ever by a Pioneer. In his 23 career starts, he has finished seven times in the top-20 including four top-10 outings and twice in the top-five which includes his 2023 win at the Bob Dibble Intercollegiate. At the 2023 SAC Championship, he tied for 26th place with 72-73-75=220.
Senior Hunter Hartman (Greeneville, Tenn.) will be making his SAC Championship debut. He has a 75.25 scoring average this year in his six starts including a fifth-place finish at the King Invitational (67-70=137, -3). He also logged a 27th place finish at the Lenoir-Rhyne Invitational (71-78-78=227).
Freshman Harrison Price (Winchester, England) has had a solid rookie season where he has garnered six starts and a 75.19 stroke average. He finished in the top-20 three times including runner-up honors at the Alice Lloyd Invitational (73-71=144), 12th at the King Invitational (71-68=139) and 17th at the Oldfield Classic (75-70-75=220). His scoring average is also the seventh-best ever by a TU freshman.
This year's SAC Championship will have a new feature… player substitutions. Team's will be allowed to bring a sixth player to the tournament and potentially substitute for an injured or under-performing player.
Marinus Jeebe (Forstinning, Germany) will be ready to contribute if called upon at the SAC Championship for the Pioneers. Jeebe has played in five events this year and has carded a 76.92 scoring average. He finished 36th at the King Invitational (73-73=146) and 47th at last month's Bearcat Classic (75-71-78=224).
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 and finished fifth at the 2023 event.
The winner of the SAC Championship will earn the league's automatic berth to next month's NCAA Division II Southeast Regional.
