By Carolina Garcia, Staff Writer

The Golf Coaches Association of America (GCAA) released the Division II Top 25 Preseason Poll over this past weekend, ranking the Armstrong men’s golf team in 9th place overall. The GCAA is a non-profit organization that strives to increase the awareness and status of collegiate golf. Through the poll, the golf team received a total of 240 points, this is the first time the Pirates have received a preseason rank in the Top 10 since 2005.

Armstrong Men’s golf team member Travis Williamson said, “We have a talented group of guys and we will strive to move up in the rankings as the season progresses.” The season opens on September 15-16 with the Kiawah Island Invitational at the Cougar Point Golf Club in South Carolina. The event will be hosted by USC Aiken featuring teams from Flager, and Georgia College.

Williamson said, “The team is excited to be ranked inside the Top 10, and our goal is to play our way back into the National Championship and improve on our performance from last year.”

This ranking is a great accomplishment for the Armstrong Athletics Department and men’s golf team, paving a path for the upcoming season.

“I am happy to see the Men’s team ranked 9th in the preseason poll. Many of our players have worked hard for our team to be ranked in the top 10. We returned three players from last year who want to return to the NCAA finals.” Michael Butler said. “As a Coach its nice to see the hard work pay off for these student athletes and each player understands the hard work must continue throughout the year.”