The Chattanooga Mocs men’s golf team looks to build on a promising stretch of golf this week at the Autotrader Collegiate. Berkeley Hills Country Club playing the previous seven Autotrader events at the venue.
Nine Mocs are in the field with the starting quintet joined by four competing as individuals. Freshmen Leon Bader and Moritz Lammel make their first collegiate starts joined by Oliver Simonsen, Etienne Brault and Will Porter. Alex Cobb, Lake Johnson, Dominic Jones and Connor Nolan also get a chance to make their mark this week.
Chattanooga is on a strong scoring run over the past six rounds. That includes five par or better team cards with a low of 277 in opening round the last time out in North Carolina. That's the best stretch since a string of six in a row in April 2009.
That will serve the squad well this week. Berkeley Hills has proven to require a scoring touch to get to the top of the leaderboard. Eight of the Mocs previous 20 rounds were par or better finishes with an average of 288.90, a mere 18-over par covering 360 holes.
Near wins – team and individual – dot this history. The squad finished in the top four four times with four runners-up. Steven Fox (2011, 2012) and European Tour pro Liam Johnston (2013, 2014) earned narrow defeats with PGA TOUR member Stephan Jaeger tying for third in 2011. The ledger includes four top 5s and nine top 10s including Brault in 2016 with a 4-under 212.
LINEUP
Starters: Oliver Simonsen (69.78), Leon Bader (71.33), Will Porter (72.11), Etienne Brault (74.67) & Moritz Lammel (74.67).
Individuals: Alex Cobb (73.50), Lake Johnson (74.67), Dominic Jones (78.33) & Connor Nolan (1st event of 2018-19).