WEST COLUMBIA, S.C. – Senior Clark Akers (-1) and sophomore Ludvig Josefsson (-1) each fired an opening round 70 to tie for 11th to lead the Furman (+1) men's golf team Monday in the opening round of the 2026 Southern Conference Championship at the par 71, 6,766 yard Solina Golf Club in West Columbia, S.C.
A native of Nashville, Tenn., Akers birdied No. 3 then eagled the par-6 No. 6 to turn at 1-under. He added three additional birdies on the back, while Josefsson, who hails from Hestra, Sweden birdied No. 6 then posted consecutive birdies on No. 11 and No. 12 after the turn. He notched the last of his four birdies on No. 17. The Paladin duo sits four shots behind individual leaders Nathan Trodd (-5) of Mercer and Camden Braidech (-5) of Chattanooga, who each carded an opening-round 66.
Sophomore David Oliver IV (E) shot even par with four birdies, including back to back birdies on No. 15 and No. 16, to tie for 15th, while senior Harris Barth (+3) is tied for 28th after tallying a 74 with birdies on No. 6 and No. 17. Senior Zach Frazer (+6) recorded a 76 with three birdies to enter Tuesday's second round tied for 32nd.
Chattanooga (-9) leads the tournament by five strokes over Western Carolina (-4). East Tennessee State (-2) is in third, while Samford (-1) sits in fourth place, just two shots ahead of the Paladins, who are in fifth place.
The second round of the tournament begins at 9 a.m. Tuesday with twosomes starting on No. 1 and No. 10. The Paladins will begin on hole No. 10 at 9 a.m. and will play in a group with Mercer in the tournament's second round.
The team winner of the SoCon Championship will earn the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Regional, while the individual champion will also earn automatic regional qualification.
Live scoring of the tournament is available at https://scoreboard.clippd.com/tournaments/239629/scoring/team. Admission to the tournament is free to the public.
5 Furman 285 +1
T11 Ludvig Josefsson 70 -1
T11 Clark Akers 70 -1
T15 David Oliver IV 71 E
T28 Harris Barth 74 +3
T32 Zach Frazer 77 +6
