Lytle promoted to head coach; Skyhawks return to action Saturday

WEST POINT, Ga. (Sept. 9, 2021) – After helping lead the Point University men's golf team to a historic season last year, Maddux Lytle has been promoted to head coach entering the 2021-22 athletic year.

"It is with a great deal of confidence and excitement that we hand the head coaching position over to Maddux Lytle," Athletic Director Alan Wilson said. "He has already shown that he is very knowledgeable of the game and is an up-and-coming coach who knows how to relate to his players. After ending the year ranked number one in the nation, he will have a lot to live up to, but I have no doubt that he will keep Skyhawk golf as a national force."

Lytle joined the golf coaching staff as an assistant for the men's and women's programs prior to the 2021 spring season. Lytle helped guide the men's team to a fourth-place finish at the 2021 NAIA Men's Golf National Championship.

"Point is more than a university and a job to me," Lytle said. "This program and university have molded me into who I am today, and I could not be more grateful to God for the opportunities I have received through Point. I have been heavily invested since the day I stepped foot on campus seven years ago as a freshman."

Lytle, a native of Newnan, Georgia, attended Point from 2014-2018. As a member of the men's golf team, he helped lead the team to two conference championships and played at the national championship in 2017 and 2018. In 2018, Lytle was a semi-finalist for the prestigious Jack Nicklaus Award.

"Playing at Point was a pleasure, especially at the national championship tournament my last two years," Lytle said. "To be able to represent our university and be part of the recognition and success was and is still a great feeling."

Lytle graduated from Point in December of 2018 with a degree in Business Administration. After graduation, Lytle played a professional golf mini-tour before working at Highland Country Club in LaGrange. He was the Assistant Golf Professional at Highland until joining the coaching staff at Point.

"I have to give credit to Coach Steven Paine," Lytle said. "He had such a strong impact on me as a player and as a man, which gave me a great desire to get into coaching. Now that I have been presented this opportunity, he's certainly been a guy to lean on and gain advice from. I gained some of my best friends through this golf program and I hope to build a new type of relationship with the players as their coach and doing my best to have an impact on their careers, just as Coach Paine has had on mine."

Season Preview

The No. 3 men's golf team will be kicking off the 2021 portion of its season by hosting their third annual Fall Skyhawk Invitational at the Point University Golf Course in Lanett, Alabama. After the home opener, the Skyhawks will compete in four more tournaments this fall. Point will travel to Palm Harbor, Florida, Sept. 27-28 to compete in the Invite at Innisbrook to round out the Sept. portion of their schedule. The Skyhawks will then compete in the Tennessee Wesleyan Bojangles Invite, Oct. 8-9, the Appalachian Athletic Conference Fall Championship, Oct. 18-19, and lastly, the Keiser Kup, Oct. 25-26.

"The biggest event for us is going to be Innisbrook," Lytle said. "We'll be going up against some top NAIA programs, Dalton State who won the national championship this year will be hosting, Coastal Georgia, Keiser, and few other top programs will be there competing against us as well. I believe that will be a great early look for the NAIA. I'm very excited to get into the big events and watch our guys perform against the best teams in the nation."

The Skyhawks are returning two of their top members in Trevor Poole and Cole Stevens. Stevens was named to the NAIA's All-American first team and the NAIA PING All-American second team. As a freshman last season, Stevens was recognized as the AAC Golfer of the Week four times and earned a spot on the GCAA All-Region South team. Stevens led the men's golf team to their fifth victory of the fall season and helped the Skyhawks close out 2020 without losing a single tournament, as Point was 4-0 in the spring before their season was cut short due to the pandemic outbreak and 5-0 during their fall season. Stevens finished the season as the No. 22 golfer in the nation according to Golfstat and carried a 72.43 scoring average.

Poole earned a spot on the All-AAC first team and served as the Skyhawks' No. 5 guy during the 2020-21 season.

"All of our guys top to bottom are crucial as they continuously push each other and get better each day through practice and competition," Lytle said. "Definitely keep a close eye on Cole Stevens this year. He was an All-American last year as a freshman and posted some good scores for us. I'm excited to see what he can accomplish now that he's got a taste of college golf. Trevor Poole played a crucial role in our success and has progressed each year. I know he's excited to step up as an upperclassman and continue to strive for greatness as an individual and as a team. Finally, we've got an excellent class of freshmen. Andries (Zandre) Labuschagne is a guy to watch for as he has tons of talent. We're excited to have him join the program and look forward to seeing what kind of impact he may have here as we chase the national title."

The Skyhawks lost three key members from last year's squad in Ruan Pretorius, Ryan van der Klis and Eric Wowor. Pretorius was the NAIA Golfer of the Year, first-team All-American, the winner of the Jack Nicklaus Award, finished the season as the No. 1 NAIA player in Golfstat, earned a spot on the GCAA All-Region South Team and was named to the NAIA PING All-American First-Team. Pretorius carried a 71.53 scoring average and was a combined 81-2 against Golfstat's top 100 NAIA players. Pretorius led the Skyhawks to a fourth-place finish at the NAIA Men's Golf National Championship, in which he finished individually in fifth place with a tournament score of 288, earning a spot on the All-Tournament team.

Van der Klis was named the Appalachian Athletic Conference Golfer of the Year, finished the season as the No. 15 golfer in the nation, according to Golfstat. Van der Klis earned a spot on the NAIA All-American first team, GCAA All-Region South Team and joined Pretorius on the NAIA PING All-American first team. Van der Klis was one of five finalists along with Pretorius for the Jack Nicklaus Award. He carried a 72.14 scoring average and was a combined 67-16 against Golfstat's top 100 NAIA players. Van der Klis played a key role in earning the Skyhawks a trip to the 69th annual golf national championship, as he finished in first place along with Stevens in the AAC NAIA Direct Qualifier.

Wowor was named to the NAIA PING All-American third team, the NAIA's All-American second team, and the GCAA All-Region South team. He finished in fourth place at the AAC NAIA Direct Qualifier and earned a spot on the All-Tournament team to propel the Skyhawks to the national championship. At the national tournament, Wowor finished the tournament in seventh with a score of 289 and earned a spot on the All-Tournament team. Wowor finished the season as the No. 34 golfer in the nation and carried a 73.30 scoring average.

Lytle says he plans on sticking to the basics by encouraging his team and helping them grow as men, qualities that he learned as an athlete and an assistant for the program to help continue the team's success.

"Coach Paine set great examples in all aspects and laid the foundation for a successful program," Lytle said. "Coach Shannon kept that going, as well. To have them both as mentors is very special and crucial for our success. I plan to keep the same fundamentals as they had and continue to set our goals high and achieve them."