Men's Golf Release - O'Briant Preview - Guilford College

  • GUILFORD HOSTS NINE TOP-20 GOLF TEAMS IN TOM O'BRIANT MEMORIAL

Greensboro, NC -- Nine of the top-20 golf teams ranked in the latest Precept NCAA Division III Coaches Poll square off in Greensboro next week when Guilford hosts the 16th annual Tom O'Briant Memorial Tournament September 29-30 at the Cardinal Golf and Country Club.

The 12th-ranked Quakers are coming off a September 17 victory in the 22-team Johnny Palmer/Uwharrie Point Invitational at the Old North State Club. In the O'Briant Memorial, Guilford joins an elite field that features four of the past five Division III national champions and five of this year's top-10 squads. Nine-time NCAA champ Methodist enters the tournament ranked first in the Precept poll, while Oglethorpe and Ohio Wesleyan rank second and third, respectively. Methodist and Oglethorpe shared second place in last year's national tournament with Wesley, another O'Briant participant and the nation's 10th-ranked squad. Other notable participants this year include seventh-ranked Greensboro, defending national Division III champion Averett and 'B' teams from Division I Duke and Division II Pfeiffer. The Blue Devils' 'B' squads have won four of the last six O'Briant titles, including a record three straight.

Methodist senior Adam Horton and Wesley's Zac Oakley lead a distinguished field of 90 individuals in the tournament. Horton and Oakley earned first-team PING All-America honors in 2003 by virtue of their fourth-place finish in the NCAA Division III Tournament. Oglethorpe sophomore Joe Green won the 2002-03 Softspikes Freshman of the Year Award and honorable mention All-America recognition. Wesley senior Chris Noll took third at last year's O'Briant and won the Division III national title in 2002. Other players to watch include 2003 All-Americans Chad Poling and Jay Tilton of Ohio Wesleyan and Brandon White of Greensboro.

Duke's Tom Lefebvre claimed medalist honors and helped the Blue Devils to the 2002 O'Briant title. Lefebvre shot a tournament-record five-under-par 65 in the opening round and finished with an even-par 140. Oglethorpe's Trent Erb shot 142, followed by Noll and Guilford's Brant Stovall (Lawsonville, NC/Walnut Cove) at 143. The Blue Devils shot 581 as a team, seven shots better than Oglethorpe, Methodist and Wesley.

The O'Briant Memorial is played on the par-70, Pete Dye-designed layout at the Cardinal Golf and Country Club in northwest Greensboro. Guilford hosted the same tournament from 1978-87 when it was called the Guilford College Invitational.

- Adam Lerner '06