GREENVILLE, S.C. --- Tusculum University freshman Ed Linley is in fifth place following the opening day of the 2026 South Atlantic Conference Men's Golf Championship. The championship is being played at The Preserve at Verdae.

The Pioneers posted a 36-hole aggregate team score of 608 and are in seventh place in the 11-team field. Tusculum opened with 310 and were in ninth place, but the Pioneers rebounded and shave a dozen shots off that score and posted 298 to move up two spots on the leaderboard to seventh.

Wingate, the fifth-ranked team in NCAA Division II, has the first day lead with 574 and lead by six strokes over 16^th-ranked Lincoln Memorial (580). Catawba (No. 9 in NCAA II) is third with 585 including the low-round of the tournament with 282 in its second 18.

Anderson and Catawba are tied for the all important fourth-place spot at 599. After Monday's third round, the top-four teams will move onto Tuesday's medal match play to determine the SAC Champion. Tusculum find themselves out of advancing.

Linley started his day with a three-over par score of 75 in a round that included one birdie, four bogeys and 13 pars. He followed with a two-under par score of 70 which included four birdies, two bogeys and 12 pars. He would birdie his final hole to get into the clubhouse in the top-five of the talented championship field.

Freshman George Evans is tied for 19^th place with 76-75=151. He got his championship off to a rocky start where he with six over for his first four holes, but he would shoot two-under par down the stretch to finish with 76 (+4). In his second round, he posted a steady 75 which included two birdies, five bogeys and 11 pars.

Sophomore Harrison Price is in 35^th place with 78-77=155, while junior Buster O'Callaghan is 40^th with 81-76=157. Greeneville freshman Gavin Sells posted an opening round 81, while junior substitute Marinus Jeebe carded a 79 in Sunday's second round.

Coker is sixth with 603, followed by Tusculum (608), Newberry (611), Lenoir-Rhyne (615), UVA Wise (615) and Mars Hill (677).

Wingate's Lewis Beeden and LMU's Harry Dickins are tied for the 36-hole lead with six-under 138. Dickins had the highlight of the day with his hole-in-one on hole No. 11 to spark his opening round 68.

Monday's third round will be contested on the par-72, 6,898-yard layout.

Team Scores (36 Holes)

Tusculum Individual Scores