Chattanooga Golf Earns School’s Highest Ranking

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn.-It’s not where they hoped to be ranked, but the Mocs men’s golf team is ranked No. 5 in the country by the Golfweek/Sagarin Ratings Index in the first ratings of the season. It is the highest ranking achieved by a Chattanooga program in the Division I era.

The Mocs opened the season with a bang, winning the Aldila Scenic City Invitational at Council Fire Golf Club with a record 45 under par score of 819. Chattanooga followed by out-classing the Carpet Capital Collegiate Classic field by five shots with an even par 864. The Carpet Capital featured four preseason top 10 teams (including then-No. 1 Georgia) and eight in the top 20.

After such an impressive start, there were visions of No. 1 in the heads of the Mocs faithful.

“Is it disappointing?” asked coach Mark Guhne. “In some ways yes, but I’m not too concerned about being ranked No. 1 in September, especially after two events. We want to play consistently well and earn the top spot throughout the season.

“I could not be prouder of our effort to this point.”

Texas and LSU are tied for the top spot in the rankings followed by Washington, Arkansas and Chattanooga. Tennessee follows at No. 6 with Iowa, South Carolina, Cal and Colorado rounding out the top 10.

Individually, the Mocs feature three top 50 players. Freshman Stephan Jaeger begins his career at No. 24. Senior Ben Rickett is at a career high No. 36 closely followed by Jonathan Hodge at No. 37.

Chattanooga is next in action Sept. 28-30 at the Ping Preview at the Inverness Club in Toledo, Ohio. The tournament is played on the same course as this Spring’s National Championship.