Thomasville, NC- The Pfeiffer University men’s golf team has been honored by being selected the CVAC preseason coaches poll favorite.  The Falcons had been perennial favorites in the coaches’ poll until last year when they slipped from the top spot.  After the most exciting CVAC men’s golf finally in which the Falcon men went on to win the Championship in a tournament playoff, the Falcons regain their top spot in the poll.  New Head Coach Brandon Turner is eager to see how his 2006 Falcon Team will respond.  "We are extremely excited to get the opportunity to begin a new conference championship streak.  There is an element of unknown, as we went through some changes.  We still have a great core in senior Ian Kentwright and juniors David Harris and Matt Whelband.  After that, I believe there are at least 4 others who can fill out our top 5.  As we all know, it basically boils down to how well you play in April and May:"

Belmont Abbey College and Coker College finish in a dead tie for second place in the coaches preseason poll.  After finishing third last season in the CVAC tournament, Belmont Abbey Head Coach Doug Ehmann is looking for big things from his team this year. Despite losing Senior Ryan Bates, who was second team All-CVAC last season, and Tony Decaro to graduation, Ehmann is very excited about the two new additions to his team for this season. A transfer from Brevard College, Kasey Timms joined the team for the fall and posted a 73.2 stroke average to lead the team. In addition, coming in for the spring semester is Freshmen Justin Wong, who will add needed depth to the Crusaders starting line-up.

The Coker golf team also finishes in the tie for second place as they have four of their top five players returning from last year, including All-Conference selections Johary Raveloarison and Vincent Dumouchel, along with Freshman of the Year Benoit Gordon. The Cobras had a tough playoff loss to Pfeiffer in last years CVAC Tournament and finished third at the NCAA DII Atlantic Regional Golf Tournament. Senior Gary Morgan and junior Blaine Rogers will round out the top five for the Cobras, while freshman newcomer Keith Wallace will also be in the mix. After struggling a bit this fall Head Coach John Handrigan hopes his team can have a productive spring and come out on top in the end.

Rounding out the golf preseason poll 4-10 were: Barton, Anderson, Queens, Mount Olive, St. Andrews, Limestone, and Lees-McRae respectively.

Carolinas-Virginia Athletics Conference Pre-Season Coaches’ Poll

(First place votes in parenthesis)