VIDEO: Head coach Larry Mays | VIDEO: The Tale of the Schenkel

STATESBORO, Ga. – Hayden Anderson has had himself a nice career as a member of the Georgia Southern men's golf program. 

The senior from Knoxville, Tenn., is the only current Eagle who was in the lineup when Georgia Southern won the 2011 Southern Conference Championship team title, and he shot a 70 in the final round to tie for 21st at the Country Club of South Carolina. The memories of that day flood back to him with ease.

"It was probably one of the most thrilling moments I've had," recalls Anderson. "I remember Logan Blondell made like a 45-foot par putt on the last hole, and we just went nuts. It was really exciting and a lot of fun." 

Seeing as how the Eagles have only won three SoCon titles in 22 years in the league, that puts Anderson in rare company in the Georgia Southern record books. Not bad for a self-proclaimed average guy with zero aspirations to play golf professionally. But Anderson would like to add one more cherry to the sundae if he could next week as the Eagles play in their final SoCon Championship in Pinehurst, N.C., April 20-22. 

Too much to ask for another SoCon title?

"It'd be one of those moments you really couldn't ever picture, you know, starting out as a freshman and coming out as a two-time SoCon winner," he says. "As a player, it would be neat to say I have two rings, and no other Georgia Southern golfer can say that. With the long line of history that we have here, that would be really special."

Add his contributions to the Eagles' Schenkel Invitational victory in March, where he shot a 67 with a hole-in-one on Saturday to help spark Georgia Southern to its first win there in school history, and now you are talking two SoCon titles AND the Schenkel Invitational Championship. That would make Anderson one of the most celebrated team golfers at Georgia Southern and give him a resume that would be pretty tough to match, never mind surpass.

There is major work to be done to reach that goal, beginning with the first round Sunday. The Eagles finished fifth last year, and three of the squads that placed ahead of them will be competing in this year's tournament, beginning with Chattanooga. The Mocs are the defending champs and have won five of the last seven titles. 

Davidson, which finished second last season, returns a bulk of its team as does Appalachian State, which also finished ahead of the Eagles. Western Carolina may have the league's Golfer of the Year in its lineup as J.T. Poston has three wins, seven top-5 finishes and has placed outside of the top-10 only once this season.

Georgia Southern enters the weekend with a lot of momentum, which was initiated by the Schenkel win over a month ago.

"You just have to keep believing," says Anderson. "With the Schenkel win, you start to believe you can do anything and you can beat anybody. We have to use that to say we're a strong team, and if we rally around each other and play as hard as we can, we're good enough to win the tournament."

Head coach Larry Mays believes the Eagles began to change their mindset at the Schenkel and have carried it through the last two tournaments. Georgia Southern will go with the same lineup for the third straight event as Will Evans, Henry Mabbett, Charlie Martin and Scott Wolfes join Anderson in the Eagle quintet.

"We have to keep that mentality of keeping our head down and playing all 18 holes and popping it up in the end and see where we're standing instead of looking all around and wondering what's going on," says Mays. "Take the task at hand, shot by shot, hole by hole, and we'll add them up when we're done."

To come away with a win this weekend, Anderson says the Eagles must bear down even more. 

"In this tournament, every shot matters even more than the regular season so if you're struggling to make a bogey, make sure you grind out that bogey because that could prove to be the difference," he says.

Though the SoCon's automatic bid to the NCAA Regionals is on the line, the Eagles have done enough to earn an at-large berth, which means they will not have the same pressure on their shoulders as some of the other squads that must win the tourney to continue their season. 

"We're safely inside the number to get an at-large bid - that's going to be the next thing on our docket, win, lose or draw up at Pinehurst," says Mays. "We want to continue the things we've been working on all spring and getting all five guys playing well at the same time, making good decisions, playing the way we're supposed to - keeping it in play and keeping it in front of us. We're going to go up and play hard and try to add another trophy to the trophy case."

If the Eagles do take home the hardware this weekend, the long ride from Pinehurst to Statesboro may get a little longer for the boys. Let's not kid ourselves – Anderson is humble about his ability as a golfer, but he is not afraid to talk. It's highly likely at some point in the 5-hour ride home he will steer the conversation to his place in the history of Georgia Southern golf. 

Not only on the way back to Statesboro, but every time the Eagles get together. Year after year… after year… after year.