CHARLESTON, S.C. – Charleston Southern men's golf is headed to the Sunshine State for the 2022 NCAA Palm Beach Gardens Regional, teeing off at the PGA National Resort in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, Monday through Wednesday. The three-day, 54-hole event will take place on a par-72, 7,048-yard layout and feature 13 other schools plus five individuals.

TWO TITLES IN 2021-22
The Buccaneers are coming off their second tournament crown of the campaign, and the biggest one of all, the Big South Championships, April 21-23, which earned them an automatic berth into the postseason. CSU carded an 8-under 856 as a team to claim the top seed after match play before dispatching No. 4 seed Winthrop 3-2 and No. 2 seed Gardner-Webb 4-1 in the semifinals and finals, respectively, to take home the trophy.

The other tournament win for the Bucs was at the Golfweek/Any Given Tuesday Intercollegiate, March 28-30. Again, Charleston Southern finished under par with a 1-under 863, bettering the field of nine schools. Both events featured a round of 7-under par 281, tying for the top overall 18-hole team score of the season.

BIG SOUTH TITLES
The conference crown is the fourth in school history, as the Buccaneers also were champions in 2001, 2003 and 2015. This year's title comes under the direction of first-year head coach Jordan Jeffers and assistant coach Cory Donnell, while the previous three happened under coaches who had been with the program longer. Only four other schools in league history have earned more championships and one of those, Campbell, is still an active member.

WHO'S WEARING THE BLUE AND GOLD?
Charleston Southern's five-man lineup will have a familiar look to it, as it will be the same quintet as it has been over the last-four tournaments. Suiting up for the Bucs will be Ben Carroll, Caleb Loudin, Alan Smith, Griffin Tarver and Ethan Willis.

Carroll, an All-Big South Honorable Mention selection, leads the way with a 73.04 stroke average, edging out the 73.26 by Willis and 73.42 by Smith, also an All-Big South Honorable Mention pick as well as a member of the All-Big South Academic Team. The tightly-contested group does not have much dropoff, as Tarver, an All-Big South Freshman Team choice, is next at 74.92 and Loudin follows at 75.86.

NCAA HISTORY
On the strength of those four league championships, Charleston Southern will be making its fifth overall appearance in the NCAA Regional round after also making the field most recently as an at-large selection. The Buccaneers have played as a team in the 2001 East Regional (Williamsburg, Virginia); 2003 East Regional (Auburn, Alabama); 2015 Lubbock Regional (Lubbock, Texas) and 2016 Tuscaloosa Regional (Tuscaloosa, Alabama). The five team appearances are tied with Campbell as the most by any active Big South institution and tied for third overall in conference history.

Six times CSU has also had individuals reach the postseason, the second most among its Big South peers and the highest total of any current school. Bucs who have advanced to the regional play include David Ryles (2002 East Regional; Roswell, Georgia); Shawn Hall (2006 East Regional; Orlando, Florida); Kelvin Day (2010 Southeast Regional; Alpharetta, Georgia); David Denlinger (2012 Southeast Regional; Athens, Georgia) and Jacobo Pastor (2011 Southeast Regional; Ocala, Florida and 2012 Southeast Regional; Athens, Georgia).

REGIONAL INFO
The Palm Beach Gardens Regional is co-hosted by Florida Atlantic and the Palm Beach County Sports Commission. Vanderbilt earned the No. 1 seed in the field, which also features, in order, Florida, Notre Dame, Florida State, Purdue, New Mexico, USF, Little Rock, College of Charleston, Indiana, San Diego, Davidson and Loyola (Md.).

Individuals, featuring two Big South players, hitting the links will be top-seed Nick Lyerly (UNCG), along with Tobias Jonsson (Mercer), Henrik Lilja (Campbell), Ross Funderburke (Furman) and Zack Byers (Gardner-Webb).