CMS Men's Golf Picked No. 8 in GCAA Preseason Division III Poll

CLAREMONT, Calif. - The Claremont-Mudd-Scripps men's golf team earned the No. 8 spot in the preseason Division III rankings from the Golf Coaches Association of America, the organization announced today.

Defending national champion Illinois Wesleyan was picked first in the poll, followed by Emory, which was ranked No. 1 heading into the NCAA Championship last year. National runner-up Huntingdon was chosen third. 

The No. 8 ranking matches the NCAA finish for CMS, which returns five of its top six golfers from a year ago. Graduated senior Alex Wrenn was the last link to the national championship team CMS had in 2016, but the Stags return a talented veteran core this year as they try to earn their second title. 

Seniors Austin Long and Harrison Brenner were among the top six for CMS which competed in the postseason last year, while juniors Ken Kong and Mason Chiu are coming off of impressive sophomore seasons. Kong was a Third-Team All-America selection from the GCAA and was a semifinalist for the Jack Nicklaus Award, given to the top player in Division III. Chiu, meanwhile, had a spectacular finish to his second year, winning the Lee Fulmer Award as the SCIAC Athlete of the Year after winning the conference postseason tournament by seven strokes. Sophomore Alex Yun also competed in the SCIAC and NCAA Tournaments a year ago and will look to take a big step forward this year with that experience under his belt. 

CMS will open its new campaign on Sept. 20-22 when it heads to Rancho Mirage to compete at the Redlands Invitational.