Golf World/Nike Golf Division II Coaches' Poll

NEW YORK, N.Y. – The University of South Carolina Aiken golf team moved up from 25^th to 17^th in the latest Golf World/Nike Golf Division II Coaches' Poll of the spring season.

The Pacers, who are tied at 17^th with Newberry, are one of four Peach Belt Conference schools ranked in the latest poll with Georgia College leading the way in eighth. Columbus State is 12^th, while Armstrong Atlantic State enters the poll this week at No. 22.

Chico State is the current national No. 1. They are followed by Western Washington in second and Lynn in third.

The Pacers have started the spring of 2011 strongly with USC Aiken earning top 10 finishes as a team in all three of its tournaments so far in the spring.

USC Aiken garnered a 2010-11 season-best third place finish at West Florida's Argonaut Invitational.

The Pacers have been led this spring by sophomore Matt Atkins (Owensboro, Ky. /Henderson State) and freshman Hayden Letien (Sumter, S.C./Sumter).

Atkins finished in 10^th at the Argonaut Invitational before earning a fifth place finish at the 14^th Annual Cleveland Golf Palmetto Intercollegiate.

Letien tied for third at the Argonaut Invitational. He opened the year by finishing eighth at Francis Marion's Wexford Plantation Intercollegiate.

USC Aiken will next play in Georgia College's Bobcat Invitational at Cuscowilla on Lake Oconee on Monday, March 21 and Tuesday, March 22.