PAC Release

TRAFFORD, Pa. -- The three-time defending Presidents' Athletic Conference (PAC) champions from the Allegheny College men's golf team were again picked as the favorites in the 2026-26 Men's Golf Pre-Championships Coaches' Poll.

Allegheny topped the pre-championship poll with 87 points and seven out of 11 first-place votes. The Gators finished eight points ahead of Grove City College, which earned 79 points with the remaining first-place votes. Washington and Jefferson College rounded out the top three with 68 points.

The PAC's annual champion is determined by a 72-hole stroke play tournament, which begins with 36 holes on Monday, October 12, and Tuesday, October 13. The first half of the men's championship will be held at Avalon Golf and Country Club's Avalon Lakes course in Warren, Ohio. The final rounds will be held at the Mill Creek Golf Course in Boardman, Ohio, in April.

In addition to the pre-championship poll, the PAC identified golfers to watch from each of the conference's 11 members. Sophomore Christopher Hoffman (Pittsburgh, Pa./North Allegheny) and junior Mekayl Maajid (Lahore, Pakistan/Roots Ivy International) both represented Allegheny. Both have earned PAC Men's Golf Player of the Week awards during the fall portion of the season. Hoffman, the reigning PAC Newcomer of the Year, was recognized after winning the annual Guy and Jeanne Kuhn Memorial Invitational, while Maajid was selected after pacing the Gators with a runner-up performance at the Red Wolves Invitational last week.

Head coach Carter Hassenplug '25 enters his first PAC Championship as Allegheny's head coach. A member of back-to-back championship teams in 2023-24 and 2024-25, Hassenplug won the individual championship as medalist and was named the PAC Player of the Year in three consecutive seasons. He also served as a volunteer assistant coach with last year's title team.