Miller’s Richardson named Southern Conference Men’s Golfer of the Week

On the strength of his career-best, runner-up finish at the spring-opening Advance Golf Partners Collegiate, Western Carolina sophomore and Miller native Presten Richardson was named the Southern Conference Men’s Golfer of the Week for all spring semester competitions through Feb. 15.
 
The selection is made by the conference office from nominations submitted by the sports information or media relations personnel at each institution. Richardson’s selection is the first of the spring and is the seventh overall in the 2021-22 season.
 
Richardson paced the Catamounts with his second career Top Five, finishing in second with a career-low, 54-hole score of 210 at the par-72, 7,169-yard Hammock Creek Golf Club. Along the way, he matched his best single-round with a 5-under par 67 in Monday’s second round. The former Miller Cardinal was bogey-free through the first 37 holes of the 54-hole event, finishing tied for fourth in the field in both pars (39) and birdies (11).
 
Richardson edged a pair of nationally-ranked individuals in scoring the runner-up finish in Florida, placing just ahead of No. 29 Tobias Jonsson of Mercer who finished third, and UNCG’s Nick Lyerly, the highest-ranked golfer in the 121-golfer field at No. 18, who came home fourth.
 
WCU tallied its sixth, Top 10 team finish of the year in a tie for sixth place in the 21-team field.
 
The weekly honor is the first for a Catamount this season – and the first for WCU since Magnus Pedersen collected honors on March 21, 2021. Richardson is the 10th different Catamount men’s golfer to earn the weekly plaudit as WCU has earned a combined 16 weekly awards since the SoCon began the award in 2001.