The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga golf programs will tee off their 2020-21 schedules Sept. 21, with the women in the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s Hoover Invitational and the men in the Scenic City Intercollegiate at the Honors Course in Ooltewah, with both of those two-day events. UTC women’s coach Colette Murray has revealed three other tournaments so far on the schedule for her 14th season — Oct. 12-13 at Arkansas State’s Lady Red Wolves Classic in Jonesboro, Oct. 25-26 at Wofford’s Terrier Intercollegiate in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and Nov. 9-10 at the Mercer Invitational in Macon, Georgia. “It is not our original schedule, but we made the most of what was out there and available to us,” Murray said in a UTC release. “Only one event was in the original 2020 fall schedule, and that’s the Mercer event. All the others we were meant to play in were either canceled or postponed.” Mark Guhne, the UTC men’s coach since 2005, announced his team’s entire schedule. There are three fall events, with the Scenic City Intercollegiate followed by Western Carolina’s J.T. Poston Invitational on Sept. 28-29 near Lake Hartwell in Georgia, then Middle Tennessee State’s Intercollegiate at the Grove on Oct. 12-13 in Murfreesboro. The Mocs have five events on the spring semester schedule before the Southern Conference championship tournament and NCAA postseason play. Guhne’s team has traditionally started at the Carpet Capital Collegiate Classic at the Farm Golf Club near Dalton, Georgia, but that prestigious event’s 31st annual edition last fall was also its finale, so the Mocs will be even closer to home this year. Due to the coronavirus, no spectators will be allowed at the Scenic City Intercollegiate. “We’re excited to begin the year at the Honors,” Guhne said in a UTC release. “It’s the not the event we had planned due to COVID-19, but every opportunity you get to tee it up at a place like that is special.”

— Dawson Day from Trion and Matt Hughes from Dalton tied for sixth in the 32nd Georgia Public Links Championship on Sunday at Chateau Elan Golf Club in Braselton. McDonough’s Justin Connelly, the 2017 Georgia Amateur Championship winner, opened the Georgia State Golf Association event Saturday with a par round of 71 on the Chateau Course, then closed with a 69 to finish at 2-under 140 for a three-stroke win over Snellville’s Matt Clayton and Atlanta’s Tyler McKeever. Day and Hughes shared sixth at 145, one shot behind Woodstock’s Mark Buchholz and Atlanta’s Daniel Candler.

Awards

The National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics has announced the 2019-20 five-star honorees for its Champions of Character program, and all three NAIA schools in the Chattanooga area were among the 181 total recognized: Bryan College at the gold level (90-100 points), Tennessee Wesleyan University at the silver level (75-89) and Dalton State College at the bronze level (60-74). In addition, the Appalachian Athletic Conference, which includes Bryan and TWU, and the Southern States Athletic Conference, which includes DSC, were recognized as five-star leagues. The NAIA recognizes schools and leagues after measuring their commitment to the Champions of Character program, with schools earning points based on academics and sportsmanship.

Soccer

AAC men’s soccer coaches predicted a top-three finish of TWU, Reinhardt and Bryan this season in their preseason poll released last week. TWU’s Bulldogs received 143 points and 11 of 12 first-place votes — predicted fourth-place Union, the reigning tournament champion, got the other one — with Reinhardt second with 122 points and Bryan third with 116. TWU, the 2019 regular-season champion, opens its season Tuesday at Bluefield. Bryan kicks off Wednesday at home against Milligan.

Compiled by Marty Kirkland. Contact him at mkirkland@timesfreepress.com.