Guilford Wins NCAA Division III Golf Crown

Lincoln, NE (5/16/02) -- Guilford College shot 300 in Thursday's fourth and final round of the NCAA Division III Men's Golf Championship despite blustery conditions and captured the school's first NCAA national title in any sport. The Quakers, who finished second to Wisconsin-Eau Claire by one stroke in the 2001 NCAA Tournament, outdistanced crosstown rival Greensboro, 1212-1218, in the four-day event at the par-71 Firethorn Golf Club. Methodist (1223), Wisconsin-Eau Claire (1233) and Gustavus Adolphus (1242) rounded out the top five.

Guilford entered Thursday's final round two shots behind Methodist, but outshot the second- and third-day leaders by 13 shots (300-313) on the last day. Greensboro, which started the fourth round 20 strokes behind Methodist and 18 shots in back of Guilford, recorded the tourney's lowest round Thursday with a four-over-par 288 and jumped from eighth to second place.

"If you look at a lot of the team scores from today, you'll see that most of them were really high," Guilford head coach Jack Jensen said. "The wind was blowing 25-35 miles per hour at times. Our score was terrific. Greensboro's was unreal."

Jensen credited his team's play in part to the experience of last year's national tournament when Guilford entered the final round with a one-shot lead over Wisconsin-Eau Claire and three shots ahead of Methodist. Thanks to a couple late birdies in the final round, the Blugolds edged Guilford by one shot. The Quakers' top four players at this year's event experienced last year's defeat.

"These top four guys all had the same feelings headed into the final round last year and were right there," Jensen said. "That made the difference. Methodist was right there through nine holes, but faded in the last eight or nine."

"I wasn't really nervous today at all," said senior Andrew Eversole, who concluded his school-record fourth NCAA Tournament appearance this year. "I was ready to go out and play.

"The course was extremely hard and conditions were pretty bad," Eversole said. "I just tried to go out there and make putts and was able to do that today."

Eversole credited a new putter for Thursday's four-over 75, which marked his first sub-80 round in four NCAA Tournament rounds (dating back to last season) and just his second competitive round below 76 since March.

"Andy showed up for us today," said senior Savio Nazareth. Nazareth overcame a Guilford career-high 85 on Tuesday with a 73 Wednesday and a 77 Thursday to finish with a four-day 306, good enough for 18th place and third-team All-America laurels for the second straight year.

Sophomore Dave Patterson shot 74 Thursday and finished second to medalist Chris Noll of Wesley by two strokes, 293-295. Patterson and senior teammate Andrew Biggadike, who shot 299 to finish in sixth place, both earned first-team All-America recognition. Biggadike placed third in last year's tournament and joins Chris Haarlow '91 as Guilford's only other three-time All-American. Patterson was a second-team All-American in 2001.

Sophomore John Riddle, who counted for the Quakers in the first and second rounds, shot 85 Thursday and finished 83rd individually at 326, two shots behind Eversole, who was 82nd.

The national golf title marks the second for Jensen, who completed his 26th year as Guilford's head golf coach. He guided the Quakers to the NAIA golf crown in 1989 and also coach Guilford's 1973 NAIA national champion men's basketball team. Guilford left the NAIA for the NCAA Division III ranks in 1991-92 and have qualified for the NCAA Men's Golf Championships in 10 of 11 years.

Team Results (23 teams)
1. Guilford - 1212
2. Greensboro - 1218
3. Methodist - 1223
4. Wisconsin-Eau Claire - 1233
5. Gustavus Adolphus - 1242
6. Nebraska Wesleyan - 1244
7. Ohio Wesleyan - 1245
8. St. John's (MN) - 1246

Individual Results (120 individuals)
1. Chris Noll (Wesley) - 293
2. David Patterson (Guilford) - 295
T3. Kevin O'Connell (Greensboro) - 297
T3. Adam Lescalleet (Muskingum) - 297
5. Joey Pohle (Skidmore) - 298
T6. Andrew Biggadike (Guilford) - 299
T6. Kevin Angle (Greensboro) - 299
18. Savio Nazareth (Guilford) - 306
82. Andrew Eversole (Guilford) - 324
83. John Riddle (Guilford) - 326