CLEVELAND, Ga. (Aug. 28, 2019) – The National Intercollegiate Athletic Association released the 2019 men's golf coaches' preseason top 25 poll and the Truett McConnell University men's golf team was listed at No. 24. The team earned national rankings as high as No. 14 throughout the 2018-19 season. Additionally, the NAIA Bushnell Golfweek Preseason Poll was released on Aug. 23, and the Bears are listed at No. 22, of 25 teams.

"We are humbled and honored to receive this preseason ranking," Head Coach Steve Patton said. "This is a testament to the hard world we put in this last year. To maintain this ranking, we will need to work even harder this year. We are returning four of our top five players from last year and all of them have worked extremely hard this summer. Several other returners also had an incredible summer season and have improved immensely.

We also added a lot of new firepower with our incoming freshmen so we are poised and ready to make another run this year, which will hopefully culminate with a National Championship berth!"

The Bears received the program's first ever bid to the NAIA national tournament, which took place May 21 – May 24, 2019 in Mesa, Arizona. The team finished in 20th overall while Matt Smith, TMU's first ever men's golf NAIA All-American, advanced to the finals and placed tied in 16th of 156 individuals.

Smith and seniors Dawson Day and Luke Peavy, all Appalachian Athletic Conference first team members, and sophomore Jhett Lewis, who also competed for the Bears at the national tournament, will all be returning for TMU this season.

The No. 24 Bears will kick off their season on Sept. 7 – Sept. 8, at the Point University Fall Invitational.